Manchester United’s season took another turn for the worse as Bournemouth left Old Trafford with a 3-0 win, extending the home side’s winless sequence to eight matches in all competitions and leaving them only one point above the relegation places.
In the dressing room
The noise at full-time was aimed chiefly at the United players, though Michael Carrick also found himself under the sharpest scrutiny of his spell in charge. The manager apologised to the supporters and made gestures which prompted talk of a farewell, but later insisted that was not his intention.
“It was not a goodbye from me,” Carrick said. “It is a difficult situation. There is no hiding from it.”
| Manchester United situation | Current position |
|---|---|
| Latest result | Manchester United 0-3 Bournemouth |
| Winless run | Eight matches in all competitions |
| Distance from relegation zone | One point |
| Significance of start | Worst since 1986 |
United looked a side carrying the burden of their form from the opening stages. Carrick felt the players had entered the match affected by the scale of the problem.
“We went into the game a little shocked,” he said. “You could feel it on the pitch.”
Carrick faces the pressure
The former United captain accepted the weight of responsibility after another damaging afternoon, with the possibility of a managerial change now hanging over Old Trafford.
Asked whether he could see a clear route towards lifting the team, Carrick admitted he did not have a simple answer. He said he had mixed emotions, felt for players caught in a poor run, and believed the staff could help in certain areas, while accepting that other parts of the situation had slipped beyond their control.
“The lads are suffering at the moment,” he said.
On his own future, Carrick said he would act in the club’s best interests whatever decision was made. He added that he understood the circumstances, was not expecting anything in particular, and would continue working as usual.
“I feel a huge amount of responsibility,” Carrick said. “It hurts me enormously to see what we are going through.”
It was, he conceded, “a really difficult day” for a club whose early-season record has become its bleakest in four decades.
The week ahead
United now face a week in which the training ground will matter as much as the next fixture. The immediate task is to halt a run that has dragged the club to the edge of the drop zone; for Carrick, every session and every result will also be judged against the growing uncertainty surrounding his position.
