His greatest sadness was for Lacey, who should have had his name in lights but instead was part of a team scuttling off the pitch to the sound of boos and harsher criticism.
“It’s a shame that Shea’s moment, such a great moment for him, for his family, his friends and the whole academy; to have an academy player come in and have a moment like that, gets a bit lost, unfortunately,” said Carrick.
“It won’t for him when things settle down but, as we sit here now, it feels that it was a long time ago.”
Carrick also addressed the JJ Gabriel situation.
“He’s a young boy, he’s 15, and for me, definitely, and from a club point of view, looking after our younger players, their welfare, their wellbeing, their exposure, we’ve got to be really conscious of that in this situation,” he explained.
But ultimately, for any manager, the assessment of their work comes through results.
“Being here toughens you up over a period of time,” he said. “It depends how you deal with it. You’ve got to deal with it in a way where you can cope with it and you can bring out the best in yourself. However you do that, with your motivation and the confidence deep within yourself to know we can win football matches.
“We’ve gone out of the cup tonight, and the feeling around the place feels bigger than that. I’m honest enough to say that’s how it feels. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we win football matches again, it can go in a different direction.”
Manchester United have one more game before the international break, at Fulham on Sunday.
For the general wellbeing of the club, Carrick’s team really need to win.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp said he wasn’t sure they will.
“Right now, they’re miles off it,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how good the manager is, if you don’t have the right players it makes it really difficult.
“There’s a reason why the other managers have struggled. Sooner or later the pressure’s always going to come on.
“This weekend becomes a huge game. He doesn’t need another poor result, otherwise all of a sudden you’re going into the international break and everyone’s talking about you. The winners tonight are the players who didn’t play.”
