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Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has explained why he does not agree with Michael Carrick’s “decision” over defender Ayden Heaven.

Man Utd have made an uneven start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign, recording one win, one draw and one defeat from their first three matches.

Carrick’s team are still showing they can score freely, but they are also letting in goals too easily and that could prove to be their undoing this season.

After Man Utd failed to bring in a new defender during the summer, they have shipped six goals in three Premier League matches, with the back four of Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw coming under the spotlight.

Ferdinand believes Carrick should currently be starting Heaven ahead of either Maguire or Martinez.

“We bought Yoro. We bought Heaven,” Ferdinand said.

“Yoro, I thought he would be a bit further ahead than he is now. He has taken a little longer to raise that ceiling and fulfil that potential. I still think it will come, but I think it has been slower than anticipated, 100 per cent.

“Heaven, I think he could play now, but the manager is making a choice and decision and he wants to go with what he has got. But I would always have one of those two in the backline just for pace at this level, 100 per cent.

“There are players in the building at centre-half, there are five players there. Obviously [Mathijs] De Ligt is not fit.”

Fellow Man Utd legend Gary Neville is also worried about his former club’s defending, saying their back line is a “liability”.

“Manchester United are conceding two goals a game. From a United perspective, you cannot concede two goals a game,” he said.

“This liability of conceding goals, I do not think it is going to go away and that is my big fear, I do not think it is going to go away. I think conceding goals is going to chase them and hunt them down the road.

“I do not know how Michael deals with it because he has got his best back four on the pitch.

“I do not know why Luke Shaw went off with five minutes to go, hopefully he is not injured. I do not know why Dalot went off with five minutes to go. I have 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 cannot be changing your back four.

“If you have 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 have not got much behind that.

“So you cannot really change your back four at 1-0 or 2-1. It is not ideal and that is a concern.”