Leny Yoro is set to be “exposed” in Michael Carrick’s system at Manchester United according to former Red Devils defender Paul Parker, who’s also far from convinced by the full-back options available to the caretaker boss.
Carrick will lead United until the end of the season having replaced Ruben Amorim at the Old Trafford hotseat on an interim basis.
READ: Predicting the next manager of every club from Arsenal to Fulham – who gets Amorim and Maresca?
The former Red Devils midfielder is expected to move away from Amorim’s controversial 3-4-3 formation having relied on a possession-based 4-2-3-1 in his time as Middlesbrough boss.
And while the change will be a welcome relief to the fans and many of the players, Parker believes Yoro will struggle when not playing alongside two other centre-backs.
“I think Yoro struggles in Carrick’s system, I really do,” Parker told Metro. “I haven’t seen anything yet on a consistent basis. I’ve seen more consistency from (Ayden) Heaven than what I have from Yoro.
“I think the back five covered him in the wide area. He had that little bit of cover in there. But I’ve seen him in a four, and once he’s exposed, he looks like he’s treading water all the time.
“He’s not the quickest, not the greatest of athletes. And I just look at what I saw against Brighton, and it’s a concern.
“If we’re talking about centre-halves to ones, there are three capable centre-halves that United have got: Heaven, then there’s Martinez, and you look at De Ligt, who is a natural leader. Those are the three.”
MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365
* Carrick beats ‘baffled’ Solskjaer: The inside story of the Manchester United inside stories, including Van Gaal plan
* Man Utd boss Carrick handed ‘£20m transfer boost’ after dramatic ‘DAWN RAID’
* Who will be Manchester United manager next season? Xabi enters the building…
Parker also believes the full-backs Carrick has at his disposal aren’t up to scratch.
“Luke Shaw hasn’t got the agility, and hasn’t really got the defensive prowess that he might have had when he was younger and pre-injuries as well,” Parker added.
“Everything he does now gives away too many fouls through the fact of not wanting to run that far, to be perfectly honest.
“I look at (Patrick) Dorgu, and he just doesn’t do enough. You just don’t get enough of him over 90 minutes. I don’t really know what his great strength is, to be perfectly honest.
“And (Diogo) Dalot at right back, I think it’s just done its time, to be perfectly honest. He’s been all over the park, and there are too many unnecessary, unaided mistakes.”
Parker does though believe that Carrick’s interim spell could be a real positive for the younger players in United’s squad.
“I’d like to think that he’ll come in there and he’ll be looking at Manchester United and say they’ve got to rebuild,’ he said.
“He’ll be looking at rebuilding where I think he’ll get a lot of respect for, and that’s using the players who have got a little bit more longevity within themselves.
“So I’m looking at Heaven in the heart of defence, and you also have to look at Mainoo. It’s a huge opportunity for him after what went down and how things were going for him under Amorim.”
