Here is what was said in this withheld portion of the conference.<\/p>\n
Defensive frailty<\/p>\n
The first question was about the number of goals United have conceded this season.<\/p>\n
Carrick answered:
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s certainly not the start we wanted. We need to improve, no doubt, as a team collectively, it\u2019s not just a backline or certainly a goalkeeper, it\u2019s a collective thing. So yeah, we definitely need to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next question: \u201cI know you said you don\u2019t want to speak about individuals there, but Yoro and Heaven<\/a> looked like they struggled a bit on Wednesday night. Is that just part of a young player\u2019s journey to go through those peaks and troughs?\u201d<\/p>\n The manager replied: Do United lack a killer instinct?<\/p>\n \u201cYour last two results, you lost to City after they went down to 10 men. On Thursday, you lost a 2-goal lead,\u201d the next reporter said. \u201cIs it fair to look at that and analyse that your team lacks the ability to \u2013 within a game \u2013 sense what\u2019s needed? So against City, look, they\u2019re down to 10 men, let\u2019s go for it a bit. Sabah, you know, we\u2019ve got a 2-goal lead, let\u2019s just keep the foot on the ball. Is that a fair enough analysis? Is that something you would look at?\u201d<\/p>\n The boss responded: The reporter continued, \u201cJust related to that, do you think the team at the moment plays with enough, if I can put it this way, the sort of United way of freedom, excitement, front-foot joy?<\/p>\n Carrick said: The reporter retorted: The Wallsend man answered: Leny Yoro<\/a>\u2018s future<\/p>\n Speaking about Leny Yoro, the next reporter asked \u201cthis is his third season at the club now, has this got to be the season where, I understand that he\u2019s obviously still at a young age, but there has to be a cutoff point where he steps up and starts performing and acting like he should?\u201d<\/p>\n Carrick replied: \u201cSome players like Leny showed he can perform. I\u2019ve got, I\u2019ve got no worries for Leny. I think he does a lot of really good things and he\u2019s part of learning. Sometimes it might be 20, sometimes you see players 22, 23, 24 where they start development. So there\u2019s definitely no cutoff point. He\u2019s just got to keep progressing and moving in the right direction, wanting to learn, keep improving, getting more opportunities. He\u2019s doing a lot of good things and I think we\u2019ve got to be careful again, and I certainly won\u2019t do it, is making knee-jerk decisions on certain players just because of one game or one half or one moment in a game.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we\u2019ve got a lot of belief in Leny for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs it helpful for him that he\u2019s got Jonny and Jonathan to learn from, given that Jonny had Rio, Nemanja, Wes Brown, Gary Neville, Jonathan had Lucas Radebe?\u201d the reporter asked- \u201cJust, it felt like they could be eased into a team that had some very proven defenders, but it doesn\u2019t feel like this defence has\u2014 there\u2019s a lot of experience there, but maybe not the same stability.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, there\u2019s a lot of experience,\u201d the boss replied. \u201cLeny\u2019s fortunate, he has got some really good coaches that have lived it and understand his position. Leny\u2019s got a big future ahead of him and learning, and sometimes learning live in the moment, sometimes it\u2019s tough, other times he\u2019s done particularly well. So he\u2019ll keep developing, he\u2019ll keep developing, we keep learning. He\u2019s in a good place, he\u2019s got a big future.\u201d<\/p>\n Referees\u2019 Association apology<\/p>\n \u201cYou mentioned earlier the goal that shouldn\u2019t have been,\u201d said the next reporter. \u201cPro Ref, whatever they call themselves these days, came out and said that they got it wrong. We mentioned last week after the game whether an apology would help, and you were quite dismissive about that at the time. Now that has been forthcoming, they\u2019ve got it wrong, is it any consolation to you whatsoever? And as you move forward into your next game and the rest of the season, do you have faith in the system that it does work?\u201d<\/p>\n The head coach responded: \u201cIt happens, it does happen. But moving forward, we just have to deal with it, what\u2019s thrown in front of us. And maybe we get one or two decisions and on the back of how it balances out percentages or our law of averages or whatever that may be. But that was a pretty big one to take and had a huge impact on that game and that\u2019s why it was particularly tough.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a big one,\u201d the reporter agreed. \u201cYou\u2019ve been talking over the past few days about how quickly things can catch fire here. That late goal at Everton takes it in a whole different direction. That call against City, suddenly you\u2019re on the back foot. Things like that can have a massive impact on your season.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey can in the moment in time have a big impact. We can\u2019t let it have an impact on the rest of the season. That\u2019s for us to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Featured image by Carl Recine via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought they started really well actually in the game. I thought we started really well, so it\u2019s not about them. I think they\u2019ll learn from different experiences and they\u2019ve done particularly well as well and they\u2019re in a good spot, two younger players that have got really good futures. So unfortunately you go through times in football and you have some good spells and sometimes you learn a lot from the things that didn\u2019t go so well. But I wouldn\u2019t isolate them at all, by all means, of anything from the other night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s quite instant really in terms of the last week or so. It\u2019s certain things have thrown up in, in games and it doesn\u2019t all of a sudden mean there\u2019s a big huge problem and that\u2019s obviously the balance for me to judge. It\u2019s very easy, just because it\u2019s happened recently, to all of a sudden think that\u2019s the thing that\u2019s been coming for a long time, and that\u2019s part of us understanding as a team moving forward actually what we do need to, what can happen in football in certain games, and what we need to put right for moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve scored a fair few goals recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you have, but you\u2019ve also let slip a two-goal lead. It\u2019s almost like you froze in that game. That isn\u2019t really the United way. You know, you obviously were part of amazing teams that just went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I was lucky enough to be part of good teams. Yeah, but it\u2019s very different though, that, we\u2019ve played some really good football, exciting football, scored a lot of goals. That\u2019s very different to all of a sudden then conceding goals. It\u2019s a different thing, you almost have to have two sides to you. I\u2019m not downplaying, we need to stop conceding as many goals, that\u2019s really obvious to see, but we have scored a lot as well, so there\u2019s a balance to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he\u2019s 20, Leny, and again, in context, he\u2019s got a fantastic future ahead of him and a lot of potential, and he\u2019s learning, he\u2019s developing. To be at this club and play as a centre-back at such a young age, it\u2019s a challenging position. It\u2019s one that he can do for sure. It\u2019s one that Ayden can do for sure. But there\u2019s no cutoff point. Some players progress and find when they\u2019re 18, they\u2019re in the peak, almost not peak, but they\u2019re at that level where they can really perform.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne-off things can happen. At the time, it was a pretty big one. We know that. I don\u2019t think I need to go over that. But yeah, I\u2019ve got faith in it, of course. You know, it\u2019s the system that we work towards and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve used. So the apology doesn\u2019t mean an awful lot. I can appreciate and I respect it for putting their hands up and saying we got that wrong.<\/p>\n![\"Follow](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/social-footer-working-qr.jpg\")
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