The pair were heavily culpable as Brighton came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Old Trafford, but The Sun reports that Carrick would not isolate them from a wider defensive problem.
“I thought they started really well, actually, in the game. I thought we started really well, so it’s not about them.
“I think they’ll learn from different experiences and they’ve done particularly well and they’re in a really good spot, two young 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’t go so well. But I wouldn’t isolate them at all from the other night.”
Manchester United led through Shea Lacey and Mason Mount before Charalampos Kostoulas, Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper turned the tie around, which is the first time in 50 years that United have lost at Old Trafford after going two goals up. They have not won a domestic cup match since beating Leicester in the FA Cup in February 2025, and went out at Grimsby in last season’s Carabao Cup.
Overall, United have conceded ten goals in six games, keeping a clean sheet only against Sabah.
Yoro, 20, is in his third year at the club after United beat Real Madrid to his signature in a deal reported at £58.91 million. Heaven turns 20 next week, and Rúben Amorim once described him as “sometimes too relaxed”.
It's been suggested that time is running short for Yoro to establish himself, with Harry Maguire turning 34 in March, Matthijs de Ligt out since November and Lisandro Martínez entering the final year of his contract. Carrick disagrees.
“No, not necessarily, no.
“He’s 20, Leny, and again in context, he’s got a fantastic future ahead of him and a lot of potential.
“He’s learning, he’s developing. To be at this club and play as a centre back at such a young age is a challenging position. It’s one that he can do for sure, it’s one that Ayden can do for sure.
“But there’s no cut off point. Some players progress and find when they’re 18 they’re at that level where they can really perform.
“Some players like Leny showed that he can perform, I’ve got no worries for Leny, I think he does a lot of really good things and he’s part of learning.
“Sometimes it might be 20, sometimes you see players 22, 23, 24 where they start developing, so there’s definitely no cut-off point.
“He’s just got to keep progressing and moving in the right direction, wanting to learn, keep improving, getting more opportunities.
“He’s doing a lot of good things, and I think we’ve got to be careful again, and I certainly won’t do it, is make knee-jerk decisions on certain players just because of one game or one half or one moment in a game.
“And we’ve got a lot of belief in Leny, for sure.”
Carrick is set to bring Maguire and Martínez back in at Fulham on Sunday, with Luke Shaw a possible return after two weeks out. It says Patrick Dorgu and Noussair Mazraoui were poor stand-ins at left-back against Manchester City and Brighton. United do not play again until 10 October.
United have not lost at Craven Cottage since a 3-0 defeat in December 2009, when Carrick himself played at centre-half in an emergency back three alongside Darren Fletcher and Ritchie de Laet during an injury crisis under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Carrick admitted the current record is a problem.
“It’s certainly not the start we wanted, in that respect,” he said of United’s defensive numbers. “We need to improve, no doubt, as a team collectively. It’s not just a backline or certainly a goalkeeper, it’s a collective thing.”