Michael Carrick arrived at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on Tuesday while preparations were being finalized for a scheduled executive summit in Monaco that will determine his future as head coach. United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada, and director of football Jason Wilcox are set to gather in Monaco on Wednesday. Although the meeting was originally scheduled to cover broader club matters, United’s recent slump has made discussions over Carrick’s position inevitable. Carrick to pay price for dismal start. It makes for poor reading, unfortunately for Carrick. Follow Manchester United on Sounds.
Carrick’s role is under severe pressure after United surrendered leads in a chaotic 4-4 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday, leaving the club languishing in 18th place in the Premier League table. Leadership figures Berrada and Wilcox are expected to recommend to minority owner Ratcliffe and the Glazer family that Carrick be relieved of his duties. The Glazers will be consulted before a final verdict is announced, which may not come until Thursday. Ratcliffe continues to back both Berrada and Wilcox, and should the decision to dismiss Carrick be finalized during the talks in Monaco, where Ratcliffe is based, the club intends to break the news to the manager face to face. Carrick is understood to accept that current form rendered these high-level discussions unavoidable. It is hard to believe given the club’s current predicament just how quickly Carrick’s tenure has soured. And his coaching staff – lauded months earlier – could not find an answer, the fine margins United benefited from during Carrick’s interim spell were now going against them. Marcus Rashford has not played since. The rotation at left-back that eventually led to Carrick starting five different players in that role was in full swing.
United have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign in 40 years, taking just one victory from their opening 10 league fixtures. They sit 18th with only Crystal Palace below them, having conceded 19 Premier League goals—a defensive record bettered only by Palace and Ipswich. Despite sitting just one point clear of the bottom, the Old Trafford hierarchy still maintains that a top-five finish remains achievable this season. With one victory in 10 Premier League matches, United have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1986-87 season. It neutralised United’s attack on a day they seemed ill-prepared to meet the physical challenge of an opponent motivated by their long-awaited Premier League return.
Should a managerial change take place, several candidates have emerged. Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is reported to be keen on the position. Multiple sources also indicate that former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is open to taking over at Old Trafford. Pochettino signed an extension to his contract as USA head coach in August, but the deal is believed to feature specific release clauses for elite club jobs. The US national team faces a two-legged Concacaf Nations League play-off against Haiti on 14 and 18 November. Previous reporting in October noted that United had also explored potential interest in former Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and former Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.
The draw against Aston Villa marked the third match of a grace period granted to the 45-year-old manager after senior figures opted to give him additional time. Results across those three games—a win, a draw, and a defeat—highlighted the team’s persistent issues. While the squad demonstrated resilience by fighting back from two-goal deficits on three separate occasions, defensive vulnerabilities continued to result in heavy concessions.
United’s hierarchy previously considered parting ways with Carrick following a defeat to Bournemouth, but ultimately decided that he and the squad deserved a chance to turn the campaign around. The club viewed the November international break as a natural juncture to assess overall progress. However, the resulting figures reflect a difficult period: Carrick has managed just three wins from 15 matches in all competitions this season.
The root of the team’s slide can be traced back to the final 48 hours before their season opener against Hull City. Striker Benjamin Sesko was still recovering from a shin injury that curtailed his previous campaign, and Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for seven weeks. Without his primary alternative in attack, Carrick moved Bryan Mbeumo to the right wing and deployed Matheus Cunha up front. Cunha’s tendency to drift deep congested spaces normally occupied by captain Bruno Fernandes, dampening United’s attack in a match where they struggled against Hull’s physical intensity.
Following that match, former Midslesbrough striker Jan Aage Fjortoft suggested in an interview for Nordic broadcaster Viaplay that United lacked passion, a claim Carrick publicly dismissed as “ridiculous,” maintaining it was only a single game. The following week, United fell behind against newly promoted Ipswich Town before a mistake by Marcelino Nunez allowed Cunha to set up Fernandes for an equalizer. Fernandes went on to net a hat-trick in a 5-2 victory, coming off his PFA Player of the Year award for 2025-26. However, the Portuguese playmaker has managed just one Premier League goal since—a penalty against Villa.
Defensive lapses repeatedly cost United over the following weeks. In a trip to Everton, United held the lead twice, including a late strike from substitute Sesko two minutes from time, only to concede a stoppage-time long-range goal to Ainsley Maitland-Niles. When asked about his team’s form afterwards, Carrick insisted the situation was “not been that bad.” Man Utd score twice in stoppage-time to share points in eight-goal thriller. Fernandes came out afterwards and criticised Carrick’s tactics.
Questions over match fitness and intensity grew as United struggled against a 10-man Manchester City side, who took advantage of an Erling Haaland goal that referees’ chief Howard Webb later acknowledged should have been disallowed. In the EFL Cup, United took a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes against Brighton, only to be overrun and beaten after conceding twice in four second-half minutes. Time and again, United’s fitness was called into question. The whirlwind was starting to pick up strength.
A late Cunha equalizer against bottom-placed Fulham failed to spark a turnaround. Immediately following the international break, United yielded another late equalizer in injury time to a 10-man Tottenham Hotspur side. Lisandro Martinez, who scored an own goal against Fulham, was at fault for Spurs’ late goal. His performance preceded an outspoken post-match interview following a 2-0 Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid, in which the Argentina international criticized the club’s summer recruitment and pointed blame toward technical director Wilcox.
Injury setbacks accumulated rapidly alongside tactical difficulties. By the time of Martinez’s public comments, both Sesko and left-back Luke Shaw were sidelined. On the pitch, United continued to concede early goals; after giving up a first-minute goal against Atletico Madrid, they conceded inside two minutes against Como during a 4-1 Champions League defeat, leaving Carrick’s tenure on the brink ahead of Wednesday’s talks in Monaco.
