Manchester United ‘intend to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties’ at Old Trafford, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.
After somehow surviving beyond the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth, which followed the 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Como, Carrick was given a three-game ‘stay of execution’ before the international break.
That’s now upon us after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, a 3-2 comeback win over Roma and a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa which leaves United in the relegation zone having conceded more goals (30) than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Guardian reported earlier on Monday that director of football Jason Wilcox is leading the process to decide Carrick’s future in consultation with CEO Omar Berrada and will then make his recommendation to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
READ: Next Man Utd manager: Pochettino joins Howe to lead favourites list
Sky Sports later claimed that they ‘plan to use the international break to fully evaluate the season so far and reassess their options’.
‘With most players away on international duty and no first-team training sessions planned in the coming days, that has bought some breathing space for a full re-evaluation of the season’, the report added.
But although ‘the club continue to insist no decision has been reached’, The Athletic claim ‘Manchester United are expected to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties as head coach’.
‘Multiple sources’ have confirmed that ‘work has been undertaken on potential replacements and the anticipation is a change will be made before the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in 13 days’ time’.
On possible replacements, the report adds that former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is ‘expected to figure highly among the candidates’, while ex-Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Bayern Munich and Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann ‘have admirers at the club’.
Former Manchester United full-back Gary Neville has warned that sacking Carrick will only “paper over the cracks” at Old Trafford.
Neville said on NBC Sports: “Michael Carrick did that last season [turned things around for a short time]. You can paper over the cracks and you can a new manager bounce where a new manager comes in, everyone’s happy for a couple of months and then all of a sudden, six months later it happens again.
“You can keep changing the manager and thinking that’s going to be the answer, but the reality is this has been proven over eight managers in 12 years, that’s not the answer.
“So Michael could leave, Michael might stay, we don’t know, the ownership haven’t got a clue what to do. They haven’t got a clue what to do. It’s rinse and repeat, isn’t it?
“We’ve seen what’s happened. [Ruben] Amorim, [Erik] ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Michael Carrick’s in the job now, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, Ralf Rangnick, there’s eight I’ve just named, some of them are world-class managers who’ve had great reputations, success.
“There are a lot of promising young managers there, there are a lot of ex-players who know the club in there as well, who’ve come in and tried to instil the club’s values and align with the fanbase.”
READ NEXT: Ratcliffe ‘blames’ Glazers for ongoing Man Utd mess after ‘they made a complete cock-up of it’
