Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has played down the need for defensive reinforcements in January after their 4-4 draw against Bournemouth on Monday night.
The Red Devils failed to come out on top against the Cherries despite taking the lead three times against Andoni Iraola’s men.
A draw continues their inconsistent form with just two wins from their last seven Premier League matches – but Man Utd have managed to move up the table into sixth position in recent weeks.
Man Utd spent around £200m on new attacking signings over the summer, which has helped improve Amorim’s side going forward, but they are now finding that they are struggling to stop conceding.
Their only clean sheet on the season came in their 2-0 win over Sunderland, while the Red Devils have only kept six clean sheets in 43 Premier League matches since Amorim’s reign began in November last year.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher described the stat as “awful” while ex-Chelsea and England right-back Glen Johnson added: “It’s a big problem for them.”
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“They had problems at both ends of the pitch last season and we highlighted before the game that they’re improving in attack. We saw that again tonight.
“Some of the attacking players from Manchester United were fantastic. They had a lot of young defenders out there as well tonight, which didn’t help.”
When asked if Man Utd need to invest in their defence like they did with the attack in the summer, Amorim replied: “No, I think we have talent at the back, we have quality players at the back.
“We just need to be better as a team defending. But that is a good point, that we at last took care of the offensive side [in the summer].
“We are improving, but I think it’s not the same situation. We just need to work together and to improve our players because they have the quality to defend better.”
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Amorim added: “I think we are pressing better, we are controlling the game better.
“Far from our goal, we are lacking in quality when we defend our goal. It’s something we need to address, of course.
“It’s different when you suffer so many goals and the opponent doesn’t have the same amount of [chances], it’s really frustrating, but we need to work a lot in the way we defend the box.”
On the match against Bournemouth, the Man Utd boss continued: “It was a fun game for everyone at home,” Amorim said of the 4-4 draw.
“If you look at the game, you can think that we lost the two points in the second half. I think we lost the two points in the first half.
“We should have had more goals; it should be a different result at half-time.
“Similar to the Nottingham Forest game, we suffered two goals really fast but we managed to get back to take the advantage again and then we needed to close the game.
“Again, it was a fun game to watch but, of course, there is the feeling of scoring four goals and not winning the game.”