Manchester United suffered a huge blow last night as they drew 3-3 against Everton to drop two points, handing Manchester City the chance to increase the gap at the top even further.
In many ways, the Red Devils were given a taste of their own medicine, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side came back twice including a 95th minute equaliser. And naturally, questions were raised about the defence.
The back four of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka has done very well in recent times. But last night, they shipped three goals in what could end up a being a vital point in the club’s title challenge this season.
Paul Scholes has come out and questioned whether Lindelof has the ability to complement Maguire at the heart of the defence. As reported by Metro, the Manchester United legend said:
"“It’s hard to put your finger on it as well because you look individually and they’re okay. Maguire is a good defender.“I still have question marks against Lindelof. I always will.“I don’t think he’s quick enough to play alongside Maguire, I don’t think he’s aggressive enough.“Wan-Bissaka, defensively has always been good. Luke Shaw has had a really good run of games, he’s been brilliant going forward, defensively he’s been okay as well.”"
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Is Lindelof good enough to be starting for Manchester United?
To be honest, the Swedish defender has done well when given the chance this season. But unfortunately, defensive issues are something which have a habit of cropping up from time to time for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
While Maguire is a regular starter, other than Lindelof, Eric Bailly might be his only other defensive partner in this side. And we all know about the Ivorian’s injury issues. Thus, he cannot be relied upon to get the job done consistently although he has impressed when playing. Axel Tuanzebe is also there but he has made only 16 Premier League appearances till date.
Perhaps the club should have gone for another centre-back in the January transfer window, knowing that they were in the middle of a title race. Now that they have not done that, Solskjaer will have to do with rotating Lindelof and Bailly. Both of them are going through injury worries though and let’s just hope that they can remain fit for the rest of the season.