Michael Carrick’s Manchester United reign has swung from last season’s rescue act to a mounting fight for survival. The interim manager who hauled the club back into the Champions League is now under severe pressure after a 3-0 home league defeat by Bournemouth, with United sitting only one point above the relegation places.
Key takeaways
- United have gone without a win since beating Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League on 10 September.
- Their league record of one victory, four draws and three defeats represents the club’s worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.
- A 4-1 European loss at Como on Tuesday was followed by Bournemouth’s comfortable win at Old Trafford.
- Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are involved in considering the manager’s position.
- Julian Nagelsmann, Eddie Howe and Unai Emery have all been discussed as possible successors.
A swift fall at Old Trafford
Carrick arrived as a caretaker last season and oversaw a striking turnaround, steering United into the Champions League when the campaign had appeared to be slipping away. That achievement bought him goodwill, but goodwill has a short shelf life when the league table begins to look like a trapdoor.
The Bournemouth defeat has sharpened concerns already growing within the club. United’s hierarchy had begun examining alternatives before Sunday’s result, and the mood is that Carrick is likely to be replaced.
The calls around the decision are expected to involve sporting director Wilcox, chief executive Berrada and co-owner Ratcliffe. The issue is not merely a poor afternoon against Bournemouth, but a run without a victory stretching back to that September win over Azerbaijani side Sabah.
A hostile fixture list and familiar names
There is little space for a manager to recover his footing. United next travel to Chelsea, then welcome Roma in the Champions League and Aston Villa in the league. Trips to Liverpool and Sporting CP in Lisbon follow, leaving the club with a particularly unforgiving sequence of fixtures.
Names have already begun to circulate should the Old Trafford job become vacant. Nagelsmann is available after leaving the Germany national side, while Howe has been out of work since departing Newcastle. Emery, meanwhile, has also been considered as a potential option.
For Carrick, the task is suddenly plain enough: find a result quickly, or watch last season’s unlikely revival become a brief and painful footnote.
