Wes Brown praises Manchester United defence after impressive run of clean sheets

Harry Maguire

Wes Brown says he has been impressed with the way Manchester United have defended in recent weeks.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have kept nine clean sheets in their last 11 games in all competitions, a stretch which includes two shut-outs against Manchester City and one against Chelsea.

United's new-found soliidty has aided their bid for a top-four finish in the Premier League, although that ambition has been put on hold after English football was suspended until April 4 amid the coronavirus crisis.

But Brown, a former United defender himself, says he has been pleased to see his old club tighten up at the back.

“It has just started to click because they have been given time. Lindelof and Maguire have been brilliant,” he told Goal. “It has taken time but that was always going to be the case and I think they have done well.

“[Aaron] Wan-Bissaka is doing exactly what I thought he would do, he is a great defender and he’s improving all the time with his attacking skills.

“And then there’s [Luke] Shaw and [Brandon] Williams who have good competition between each other which is pushing them both on.

“You’ve got [Eric] Bailly coming back now. He was brilliant against Chelsea and has had another couple of good performances so it will be interesting to see whether the manager gives him time to see what he would be like with Maguire.

"Having more players coming back is going to give some healthy competition at the back and I’m sure there’s going to be time to see different partnerships in the future.”

United have been linked with several centre-backs throughout this season, with many believing Victor Lindelof would be better as a squad player.

However, Brown sees no need to change the current setup given United's defensive resolve of late.

“I don’t necessarily think that’s the right thing to do. I don’t mind players coming in if they’re going to improve the squad but, in general the defence has been pretty good this season," he added.

“You always want to improve. So if there are players that the manager likes and they’re available and they fit in the team then I don’t see a problem in that but I don’t think it’s necessarily needed in defence.”

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).