Carrick wants more clean sheets to turn season around

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick needs more clean sheets as he looks to change his team's fortunes, as they take on Como in the Champions League.

"You're dead right. I can't argue with that."

Michael Carrick's response was to the point.

The question that prompted it in his pre-match news conference at a rain-lashed Giuseppe Sinigaglia stadium in Como concerned his side's failure to keep clean sheets.

It was put to Carrick that it would help if United could manage some shutouts, and he was asked if he had figured out the problem.

United have kept the opposition out just once in 10 games this season, against Azerbaijan champions Sabah FK last month.

"There's definitely parts of our game we have to improve to make things easier. I am fully aware of that," said Carrick, whose side take on Como in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The problem goes further than this season though.

They managed six clean sheets in Carrick's 17 matches in charge last term, including two in their final three games. Prior to that they had only managed two all season, part of an overall tally of nine in 63 games under his predecessor Ruben Amorim.

It is an extreme comparison given solid defence was the bedrock of Arsenal's Premier League title triumph, but the Gunners, who face Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday, have recorded seven clean sheets in 11 matches this season.

Continuity of selection would presumably help Carrick achieve defensive stability.

It has proved virtually elusive so far. Only once has Carrick been able to name the same back four, when Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw started the victory against Ipswich at Old Trafford on 30 August and kept their places for the trip to Everton the following week.

Carrick described his fitness update before the Como encounter as "a mixed bag".

That was largely based on him saying Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt was "fit and ready" after 11 months on the sidelines with the back injury that required surgery in May.

Yet De Ligt was on the bench at Leeds on Sunday when Martinez went off with the thigh injury that prevented him travelling to Italy, and instead Carrick turned to Noussair Mazraoui, usually a full-back, for the central slot.

United's defensive resources are stretched thinner as Leny Yoro is ruled out through suspension. Shaw is still not fit and is expected to be out for "a little bit longer" than the 10 days Kobbie Mainoo is going to miss, which could mean the left-back won't return until after the November international break.

Will Amass be the sixth left-back this season?

To many observers, the Manchester United left-back situation was one that could have been anticipated and should have been addressed in the summer.

The fact United spoke to Manchester City about Algeria international Rayan Ait-Nouri on deadline day suggests they did view it as a potential issue.

After starting all 38 Premier League games last term and the first three this, Shaw has played only twice since, and the number of games missed could reach double figures before the 31-year-old returns.

When Diogo Dalot lined up at left-back against Leeds, he became the fifth different player to start there for United in six games.

Aside from Shaw, none of the quintet could be regarded as a natural left-back.

However, after it was suggested Martinez's post-match outburst following the defeat by Atletico Madrid was partly down to 20-year-old Ayden Heaven playing at left-back, sources did point out the youngster played more often in that role than in the centre during his youth days at Arsenal.

It was also suggested in the summer that United's coaching team did not believe 19-year-old Harry Amass, who was Shaw's stand-in during pre-season, was yet at the right level.

Amass' single appearance so far this season, as a substitute for the final 18 minutes against Sabah, backs up that view, although Carrick has countered it.

"He's right in contention," Carrick said.

"At some point, young players need an opportunity. It's just finding the right time.

"Sometimes it's because there's an unfortunate thing happened to somebody else. Sometimes it's just you're doing so well we have to give you a chance.

"All the young players are in a similar boat. There's maybe four, five, or six of them trying to make that next step in terms of getting into the team and trying to start games, and Harry's definitely one of them."