Michael Carrick suffered his second defeat of pre-season, losing to Ruben Amorim's AC Milan in a flat 4-2 loss in Poland – the final game before the beginning of the Premier League season, where Manchester United come up against newly promoted Hull City.

An Early lead through a Harry Maguire header was eventually cancelled out by AC Milan skipping past United's defence, as Samuel Chukwueze equalised. United had the chance to take the lead again through captain Bruno Fernandes after summer signing Youri Tielemans was fouled in the box, but the skipper failed to convert from the spot for the second game in a row.

The second half saw United quick out of the blocks as the relentless pressing caused turnovers in the final third, eventually leading to a goal for Patrick Dorgu with 51 minutes played.

But it all came tumbling down, with Amorim's side carving United apart and finding huge space out wide, eventually causing United to concede chance after chance. An equaliser from Alphadjo Cisse was quickly followed up by a header from new signing Goncalo Ramos.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek then confirmed the win immediately after hurting United on the left-hand side, again making it 4-2 to the Italian giants.

In a game which had major anticipation over the performances of the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tielemans, it was a different player who stood out for United.

Since his arrival at the club last summer, Senne Lammens has been the calming presence in goal that United fans have been calling out for. His performances have earned him a spot at the 2026 World Cup as Belgium's second-choice goalkeeper, only behind Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid.

Despite a shaky end to the World Cup, with a costly mistake against Spain, Lammens' return to Carrick's side has been a great boost, with the showstopper proving to be vital against Milan.

The scoreline tells one story, but Lammens was crucial in the prevention of huge chances for Amorim's men. There was little he could do about the goals he did concede, but that didn't stop the Belgian from claiming multiple crosses, producing huge saves and ultimately preventing an even more sour scoreline.

The defensive issues for United should not be directed towards the goalkeeper; rather, the lack of athleticism in the backline, with the defenders opting to get touch-tight to the Milan forwards. Their quick one-touch play continuously opened huge gaps, particularly in wide areas, where the pure speed of the Milan forwards was too much for United's ageing defence.

With one week until Manchester United's Premier League season kicks off and transfer deadline day fast approaching, the signings of Tielemans and Andrey Santos are far from enough, with today proving so.

Milan came into the game today off the back of a 3-0 loss to Chelsea, but today they made Carrick's side look far from a Champions League side.

Fans have been screaming out for a left back to replace Luke Shaw, who, despite having a good season, is far from the standard of what United demand. His former understudy, Dorgu, has since become a winger, and Harry Amass is not yet the ready package.

Elsewhere, United need speed to cover. Where other Premier League teams have defensive recovery in the form of William Saliba of Arsenal, Micky Van de Ven of Tottenham and Abdukir Khusanov of Manchester City, United's centre-backs are far from that level of athleticism.

Whilst Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven have shown great signs at such young ages, United surely need to look at more assured quality and speed at the back, perhaps in the form of Castello Lukeba of RB Leipzig.