United Review | Brighton at home | EFL Cup 26/27

United 2 - 3 Brighton 

What the fuc**ng h*ll was that

Author | Liam C

Where do we start with this one? We exit the League Cup after a disappointing defeat at Old Trafford. 

The away side mounted a second-half comeback to overcome the early goals scored by the exciting Shea Lacey and Mason Mount. 

Carrick had shuffled the pack for the tie, making eight changes to the side that started the horror show against city on Sunday. What difference would it make?

Karl Darlow was handed his competitive debut between the sticks, while Shea Lacey also came into the starting XI to make his first start for the club. Only Diogo Dalot, Youri Tielemans and Marcus Rashford kept their places from the weekend.

Pre-match scenes

After that fantastic ten minutes, the performance was mostly a complete shambles. Where do we go from here? That feels like a question we've started asking every 18 months. 

If the kids are United. Does Shea Lacey deserve to start more matches?

Lacey, on his first senior start for the Reds, after six substitute appearances, cut inside on his favoured left foot to smash the ball past Seagulls goalkeeper Jason Steele after eight minutes. It was a dream start for the youngster but he deserved it to be a winning performance.

The question is now, does he deserve more minutes? We think he does. 

Key points from Carrick’s post match press conference 

On a "negative spiral" developing

One journalist asked: "You’ve been a regular here in recent years when it has felt like this club gets into a negative spiral, and it’s hard for managers to stop it. How do you go about doing that now? Do you feel under pressure already because of that, or is it too soon for that?"

“No pressure anyway. Either way, that doesn’t bother me one bit. I understand what goes on outside and how the world works, but it genuinely doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is winning games, having a good feeling around the place and knowing we’re moving in a good direction. If we’re on a good run, the biggest thing I’m thinking about is keeping it going and keeping everything on an even level. 

On taking responsibility

Another reporter asked: You said you take responsibility for the result. From a coaching perspective, what are the things you think you could have done differently?

“I thought we were doing a lot of the good things that we wanted to do early in the game and put ourselves in a great position. We just let it slip by not doing certain things. I don’t think now is the time to dissect that. It’s a shame that Shea’s moment, such a great moment for him, his family, his friends and the whole academy, gets a bit lost. It won’t for him when things settle down, but as we sit here now, it feels like it was a long time ago.”