Michael Carrick insisted he expects to still be in charge when Roma visit Old Trafford on Tuesday — but a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday made it nine games without a win for Manchester United and left his position looking increasingly untenable.
United finished with ten men at Stamford Bridge after Lisandro Martinez was sent off, and goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer moved Chelsea up to fourth while United stayed in provisional 16th place with seven points from nine games, just one point above the relegation zone, as Reuters reported. The bookmakers now make Carrick the 1/5 favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked.
Nine without a win, and a first half wasted
This was not a United no-show, and that is what will hurt Carrick most. With captain Bruno Fernandes restored after being dropped for his outburst following the defeat at Como on October 21, United were the better side before the break and squandered a series of chances — Fernandes, Amad Diallo and Matheus Cunha, who had a goal ruled out for offside, all went close.
Four minutes into the second half they were punished. Rogers picked the ball up just inside the United half, cantered past a hesitant defence and lifted a delicate finish past Senne Lammens. Then, in the 63rd minute, Martinez floored Wesley Fofana in the area to concede a penalty and collect a second yellow card — booked twice inside two minutes, as DAZN put it, for a needless forearm as a corner drifted away. Palmer scored from the spot despite Lammens getting a hand to the ball, and the home fans taunted Carrick with chants of "You'll be sacked in the morning."
It is now a third defeat in a row and nine matches without a win in all competitions — the first time United have endured such a run since 1988-89. United have also failed to score in four of their nine league games this season. The full match report from Stamford Bridge is here: Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-0.
Carrick: "Yes" — but the board has backed him once already
Asked afterwards whether he would be in charge for the Champions League game against Roma, Carrick replied with a simple "Yes." He said he did not feel let down by Martinez's red card and pointed to the first half his team should have converted.
"We didn't really get going second half. We could've, should've been up really first half," he said. "Bad goal to concede then penalty and we're up against it. Turned right on its head."
The context, though, is brutal. The United board had already decided to stick with Carrick for the Chelsea game despite a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth last weekend, which followed a 4-1 drubbing at Como in the Champions League. That show of faith bought him one more game — and he lost it. Reports in England suggest Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann have emerged as potential replacements, although no firm decision has been reported, and a split over the successor is said to be the one thing that could buy Carrick more time.
Bryan Mbeumo, who rattled the bar late on, admitted the dressing room felt "terrible" but insisted the mentality was there: "We've done a lot of right things especially in the first half when we could've been up one or two nil."
So what does it mean?
The calendar offers no hiding place. Roma visit Old Trafford in the Champions League on Tuesday, Aston Villa follow in the league on Sunday, November 8, and then comes the November international break — widely seen as the most likely moment for a change if results do not turn. After the break, United go to Liverpool on November 22.
United are also already looking at January signings to fix a squad stretched by injuries, but the more urgent question is who will be picking the team by then. Carrick took interim charge in January, earned the job permanently after finishing third last season, and was given the job full-time only five months ago. None of that history will count for much if United are in the bottom three by Sunday night — which they could be, depending on results elsewhere this weekend.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: Carrick keeps saying the performances are close, and for 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge he was right — but managers are not kept for good first halves. Nine games without a win, one point above the relegation zone and a senior player talking himself into a needless red card is a team that has stopped responding, and the board's decision to back him once has now been answered with another defeat. Roma on Tuesday feels less like a fixture and more like a final hearing. Should United sack Carrick now, or give him the Roma and Villa games to save himself? Have your say in the comments below.
