Manchester United fans have seen some shocking defending over the years, but Thierry Henry reckons he just witnessed something completely new — and not in a good way.
The Arsenal legend joined David Jones and Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football for Bournemouth vs. Fulham, but before kickoff, the Sky Sports panel couldn’t help revisiting United’s latest collapse — a 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Newcastle United.
It was United’s 14th league defeat of the season, and frankly, it didn’t flatter Newcastle. The Magpies carved through United’s midfield and backline with alarming ease, and while Roy Keane and Carragher were their usual brutally honest selves, it was Henry who delivered the most damning verdict of the night.
And it wasn’t about the usual suspects either — instead, Henry called out young defender Leny Yoro for something he described as “unlike anything I’ve ever seen on a football pitch.”
Let’s set the scene: Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes is through on goal, United’s defense is in disarray, and the forward slams home his second of the match — a rocket into the net after waltzing through the backline. But instead of reacting with anger, frustration, or even urgency… Yoro just turned and looked at the linesman.
Henry was stunned.
“Please, stay on Yoro and what he’s asking for,” he said, almost laughing in disbelief. “I don’t know what he’s looking at… are you checking with the linesman to see if he’ll save you? What is that?”
“I don’t know if he thought it was offside,” Henry continued. “We all knew it was a goal. So what are you doing? I’ve never seen that before. We all knew it was a goal.”
That moment summed up everything that’s gone wrong for United this season — not just poor defending, but a complete lack of urgency, awareness, or accountability. You concede a goal like that and you’re hoping for a flag? That’s not elite mentality — that’s playground stuff.
Of course, Roy Keane wasn’t going to let it slide either. Speaking the day before, he was equally scathing about the defending.
“Barnes is brilliant, take nothing away from Barnes,” he said. “But someone’s got to lunge at him. Someone’s got to tackle him.”
That’s the thing. This wasn’t Messi gliding through six defenders. It was a decent Premier League winger running in a straight line — and no one in red even tried to stop him.
“They gave a goal away at Forest two weeks ago — same thing,” Keane continued. “Someone running straight through the middle. Tackle him! Do something! How are you letting players run through the middle untouched?”
Keane also pointed to the bigger issue — a total breakdown in team responsibility.
“United have been sloppy in possession, but worse — no one’s covering for each other. You slip, make a mistake, fine. But where’s your teammate backing you up? There’s no cover, no fight. Nothing.”
And that’s what’s so painful for fans. You can handle losses. You can even understand rebuilding. But this? This is a team that looks like they’ve never met each other.
When icons like Keane and Henry — two of the fiercest competitors football has ever seen — are calling out the basics, you know the club has hit rock bottom. Not for the first time this season, and probably not the last.
If this is the new era under Ruben Amorim, there’s a long, long way to go.