Michael Carrick's future as Manchester United head coach will be decided on Wednesday, when Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada present their review to Sir Jim Ratcliffe at a pre-planned meeting in Monaco — with the expectation around Old Trafford now that he will be sacked before the Liverpool game.
It is a sharp change of direction in 24 hours. On Monday, United were insisting they would not rush the Carrick decision and would use the full international break to review the season. By Tuesday, according to Sports Mole, a final decision had been scheduled for Wednesday, and it may not be officially announced until Thursday.
Carrick was at Carrington as normal on Tuesday, working with the players not away on international duty. Wilcox and Berrada were not at the training ground — they had met there on Monday to conduct their full review of the season so far, and they will now take their findings to Ratcliffe. The Glazer family, United's majority owners, will also be informed. If the decision is to sack him, United would like to tell Carrick face to face.
Why Wednesday, and why Monaco?
The Monaco meeting is not an emergency summit — it was already in the diary, and Carrick's future is only one of the key topics on its agenda. But it has become the moment the review ends. Wilcox, United's director of football, is leading the process, with chief executive Berrada consulted throughout, before the pair make their recommendation to Ratcliffe, the minority owner who controls sporting matters.
The reporting behind the meeting is consistent. BBC Sport reported on Monday night that there is a growing expectation Berrada and Wilcox will recommend a managerial change to Ratcliffe and the Glazers, while stressing that no final decision had been made. The Athletic went further, reporting that United intend to relieve Carrick of his duties, that work has already been done on potential replacements, and that a new man is expected to be in place for the trip to Anfield on 22 November — a version summarised by theScore. United's public position remains that nothing has been decided and nothing is set in stone.
The numbers behind the review
The case Wilcox and Berrada have been reviewing is stark. Sunday's chaotic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa left United 18th in the Premier League, with one win from 10 league games and eight points — their worst start to a domestic campaign in 40 years. Carrick's side have conceded 19 league goals, the joint-third most in the division, and 15 goals in their last five matches in all competitions.
The fightbacks have not saved him. United came from 2-0 down to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League last Tuesday, then twice came back against Villa, scoring twice after the 90th minute. Those rallies showed the players are still running for their manager — Carrick himself said on Sunday that he would not quit. But they have won just four of 16 matches this season, lost two of their first four Champions League games, and sit in the relegation zone at the November break, a year after Carrick took them from seventh to third as interim boss and earned a two-year contract to 2028.
So what happens next?
If Wednesday goes the way the reporting points, the succession race starts immediately. Mauricio Pochettino, the United States head coach, is expected to figure highly: he extended his US contract to 2030 in August, but that deal is reported to carry a release clause — put at around £7.4m in one report, and described elsewhere as an escape clause that would not require significant compensation. Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann and Kieran McKenna have also been named as candidates considered by United officials, and the club sounded out Howe and Nagelsmann as long ago as October. Carrick's own contract is believed to include a break clause that would make his dismissal more affordable.
The timing leaves no slack. Whoever leads United out at Anfield on 22 November will have had days, not weeks, with a squad scattered across the world on international duty. That is the price of deciding in the break — and the argument for deciding now rather than drifting.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Monday's message was patience; Tuesday's is a date, a place and a recommendation. When a club moves from "no rush" to a judgement day in Monaco inside 24 hours, the review has usually already reached its conclusion. Carrick deserved the chance to fight through the Roma and Villa games, and his players' late rallies proved they had not stopped playing for him — but one league win in 10 and a place in the relegation zone is not a record any United manager survives. If Ratcliffe signs this off on Wednesday, the honest thing is to announce it on Thursday and give the successor every remaining day before Anfield.
Should United sack Carrick on Wednesday, or give him the Liverpool game to save himself? Have your say in the comments.
