Under-fire Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has arrived at Carrington after chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox held talks over his future. Sources have indicated that Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann are potential replacements.
The popular former Red Devils midfielder steadied the ship after Ruben Amorim’s rocky reign and helped it change course, as his January arrival inspired the side’s rise to third in the Premier League. Carrick’s impressive stint earned him a two-year deal to stay on as United boss, but just five months later he faces the sack following Sunday’s 3-0 Old Trafford defeat to Bournemouth.
Talks over the managerial situation followed that defeat and continued after Berrada and Wilcox arrived at the Carrington training complex on Monday morning, the Press Association understands. Carrick arrived at the training ground shortly before 2 p.m., as United Under-21s took on Hull, the side that helped ensure United got their Premier League season off to a nightmare start, in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
A season in freefall
Carrick’s side are without a win in eight games after being beaten by Bournemouth, days after a 4-1 Champions League loss at Como. United have won just two of their 12 matches in all competitions this term, and their seven points from eight matches represent their worst start to a season since 1986.
The side sit just a point above the relegation zone in 16th place ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea. They then head into the international break with home games against Roma and Aston Villa.
Carrick sidestepped questions about his future after the Bournemouth defeat, but he appeared to know the writing was on the wall. He waved to the crowd and patted his chest as he exited the pitch, while fans chanted his name in support. The Old Trafford faithful directed their anger instead at the Glazers, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos set-up and United director of football Wilcox. Players were booed at the final whistle, and more fiercely as they followed Carrick down the tunnel, on a day when the manager left skipper Bruno Fernandes on the bench.
Fernandes and the wider unrest
The 32-year-old has been a pale imitation of the player who won last season’s Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ Association awards. The frustrated captain questioned the manager’s tactics after the Como defeat. Carrick insisted the decision to leave him out against Bournemouth was a “pure football” decision made before the match rather than a punishment, but he did not give Fernandes a minute on the pitch.
Fernandes was also at Carrington on Monday, a day off for the players, to receive what is understood to be pre-planned treatment. His eye-catching remarks in Italy came a week after Lisandro Martínez was fined and brought in for talks following his criticism of the club hierarchy in a series of stunning interviews after the loss at Atlético Madrid.