Manchester United’s difficult autumn has brought Michael Carrick’s position under serious pressure after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como on Wednesday extended the club’s winless sequence to seven matches in all competitions. With only two victories from 11 games, United are enduring their poorest opening to a season since 1986.
Why it landed this week
- Manchester United
- Michael Carrick
- Aston Villa
- Brighton
- Unai Emery
- Julian Nagelsmann
- Eddie Howe
- Antonio Conte
- Fabian Hürzeler
The result in Como has sharpened the sense that Carrick is approaching a decisive point. Seven games without a win is a difficult stretch at any club; at Old Trafford, with the season already running away from them, it has unsurprisingly set the replacement talk moving.
Unai Emery has emerged as one of United’s leading possibilities, alongside Julian Nagelsmann. Emery is in his fifth campaign in charge at Aston Villa and led the Birmingham club to the Europa League last season, but any attempt to bring him north would be an expensive business.
The Spaniard is tied to Villa until 2029 and earns between €12 million and €14 million per year. A settlement to release him from that agreement could reach €24 million, a figure that makes the pursuit markedly more complicated than a move for an available manager.
Nagelsmann fits that latter description. The former Germany coach is without a club and has not managed in domestic football since Bayern Munich dismissed him during the middle of the 2023 season. Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte are also among the unattached names under consideration.
Brighton’s Fabian Hürzeler has also been discussed after his strong start to the campaign with the Seagulls. The German-born American, however, is focused on seeing out the season at Brighton rather than leaving during it.
For United, the issue is now as much about timing and cost as it is about the identity of any successor. Carrick’s side need results quickly; otherwise, the conversation around the dugout will only become louder.
