Michael Carrick will have a left-side selection headache when Luke Shaw misses the game vs Newcastle, but a bold and unexpected position change can be the perfect solution.
The lack of width caused issues for Man Utd against Crystal Palace when Luke Shaw pulled up in the first half with an injury.
Noussair Mazraoui grew into the game, and Michael Carrick’s smart, half-time tactical tweak also helped, but a more concrete solution will be needed against Newcastle.
Considering Newcastle’s physicality and the type of game it’s likely to be, Carrick can play a hidden ace to solve United’s left-back problems, which is to field an entirely new player there.
Patrick Dorgu, Noussair Mazraoui, Kobbie Mainoo and Ayden Heaven warm up ahead of the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at City Ground in 2025 in Nottingham, England.
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Ayden Heaven is the ideal answer to Man Utd’s left-back woes
In the absence of both Patrick Dorgu and Shaw, Carrick would be tempted to play it safe and continue with Mazraoui at left-back.
However, there are a couple of problems with that.
First is that he favours his right foot, which means he’ll find it easier to underlap instead of overlapping, leading to a congestion of bodies in the central zone.
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Second is that he’s more of a ball circulator than a ball progressor from the first-third, a role United have sorely missed since Lisandro Martinez’s injury.
An underrated factor is also his physicality, because Anthony Elanga, as poor as his current form is, will fancy his chances of physically outmatching him.
Enter Ayden Heaven, who solves all of the problems posed above with Mazraoui’s inclusion.
Heaven is naturally left-footed, so he will widen the pitch instead of narrowing it, which will help against Newcastle’s press, since the passing angles will balance Maguire, Yoro, and Dalot being right-footed.
Secondly, Heaven is basically Martinez’s final form because he loves to play the line-breaking passes from deep instead of playing it safe and circulating the ball.
Most importantly, he is deceptively quick and physical, so Elanga will find it harder to get change out of him than someone like Mazraoui.
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Mazraoui is a better one-on-one defender, but Elanga isn’t a dribbler who beats his man off the dribble. His strength lies in outmatching his opponent physically.
Heaven is better equipped to deal with that challenge, also because he already dealt with it well once when Newcastle played at Old Trafford earlier this season.
Heaven was brilliant in that game, in a fluid formation where he often found himself on the wings and defending the channels, which would be his role as a traditional left-back under Carrick.
The only area Heaven might lack is his final-third product, but considering Carrick’s style of play and the role Shaw was playing, the left-back is expected to tuck inside and form a back three in possession anyway.
Most of the overlapping will be done by Dalot on the other side, while Heaven plays his clear role as the left-sided centre-back tasked with breaking lines.
It’s the perfect game, opposition, and circumstances to deploy Heaven in a new position, and exactly the kind of tactical adaptability that will add points to Carrick’s case of becoming the permanent manager.
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