Rio Ferdinand does not think Michael Carrick is picking the right centre-backs after Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at Everton.
The Red Devils continued a mixed start to the season with the draw at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, twice taking the lead and twice being pegged back.
Benjamin Sesko looked like he had headed in the winner on 88 minutes, but a stunning Ainsley Maitland-Niles strike levelled for the Toffees six minutes into injury time.
That means it is just four points from United’s first three games, the other two of which have been against newly-promoted sides Hull City and Ipswich Town.
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Carrick’s team has conceded six goals in three league games and Ferdinand thinks he is not getting it right at centre-back, suggesting Leny Yoro or Ayden Heaven should be in the starting XI.
At Everton and against Ipswich, both were on the bench as Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez started in the heart of defence.
Ferdinand accepts that Yoro has not progressed as much as hoped since signing from Lille in 2024, but either he or Heaven should be in the backline for their pace.
‘We bought Yoro. We bought Heaven. Yoro I thought he would be a bit further ahead than he is now, he’s taken a little bit longer to push up that ceiling and fulfil that potential. I think it’s still going to come, but I think it’s been slower than anticipated, 100 per cent,’ the former United star said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
‘Heaven, I think he could play now, but the manager’s making a choice and decision and he wants to go with what he’s got, but I would always have one of those two in the backline just for pace at this level, 100 per cent.
‘There’s players in the building at centre-half, there’s five players there. Obviously [Mathijs] De Ligt’s not fit.’
Gary Neville sees Manchester United’s defence as a huge issue, but disagrees with Ferdinand on Carrick’s options at centre-back.
He does not think he has ‘much behind’ the starting pair of Maguire and Martinez and has questioned why Carrick made changes at full-back during the game at Everton.
‘Manchester United are conceding two goals a game. From a United perspective you cannot concede two goals a game,’ he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.
‘This liability of conceding goals, I don’t think it’s going to go away and that is my big fear, I don’t think it’s going to go away. I think conceding goals is going to chase them and hunt them down the road.
‘I don’t know how Michael deals with it because he’s got his best back four on the pitch.
‘I don’t know why Luke Shaw went off with five minutes to go, hopefully he’s not injured. I don’t know why Dalot went off with five minutes to go. I’ve seen it twice now, both of them have come off in two games.
‘To be fair, Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag used to change their back four a lot as well. You can’t be changing your back four.
‘If you’ve got [Arsenal’s Piero] Hincapie to come on for [Riccardo] Calafiori, maybe you can. But Manchester United have got a back four of Shaw, Dalot, Maguire and Lisandro Martinez and they’ve not got much behind that.
‘So you can’t really change your back four at 1-0 or 2-1. It’s not ideal and that is a concern.’