Michael Carrick has paid the price for Manchester United’s chaotic start to the season, and Mauricio Pochettino looks likely to replace him. Carrick lasted less than six months into the two-year contract he signed in May.
The end came after a run that changed the mood at Old Trafford. On Sunday 8 November, United trailed Aston Villa 4-2 with little time left, and the home crowd appeared resigned to defeat. Patrick Dorgu’s equaliser in stoppage time salvaged a 4-4 draw. Carrick raised an arm in celebration, then walked a lap of the pitch while the supporters sang his name. He placed himself among his players to shield them from the fans, who had booed them off after the 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth two weeks earlier.
That gesture reflected the 45-year-old’s approach. He backed the collective rather than protecting himself, and his standing as a former United player kept the terraces on his side when many others at the club faced fury and derision.
Carrick’s survival after the Bournemouth defeat seemed unlikely. United took 44 hours to confirm publicly that they were sticking with him, although it is understood he was told the day before. Since then, the club has won one, drawn one and lost one. Carrick’s side were outstanding for the first 45 minutes at Chelsea, but they conceded early in the second half and lost 2-0 after Lisandro Martinez was sent off for two bookings in five minutes. Against Roma in the Champions League, they went two goals down inside 17 minutes before winning 3-2. Against Villa, they fell two goals behind in four minutes, levelled before half-time and then needed Dorgu’s late goal to earn a point.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox celebrated Dorgu’s equaliser from the directors’ box, though they viewed the result with a detached perspective. Within days, they flew to Monaco to tell minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe that change was required.
A season that unravelled
This is the third consecutive season in which United have replaced their head coach mid-season. Unlike the changes under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim, this one did not come as a surprise to those who followed the club closely. The reason lies in how sharply the present form contrasts with last season. Carrick won 12 of his 17 games in charge and returned United to the Champions League. The mood in pre-season was overwhelmingly positive. There were no visible splits, young players such as JJ Gabriel were part of the group, and senior staff spoke optimistically about a possible partnership between Bruno Fernandes and Youri Tielemans.
The trouble began in the 48 hours before the season-opening match at Hull. Benjamin Sesko was still easing his way back from the shin injury that ended his previous campaign early, and Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out for seven weeks. Carrick therefore lost his first-choice alternative striker and had to play Bryan Mbeumo on the right of attack. He turned to Matheus Cunha instead, whose tendency to drop deep took him into the spaces that captain Fernandes likes to occupy. United struggled to meet the physical challenge of a Hull side motivated by their Premier League return.
Jan Aage Fjortoft, working as an interviewer for Nordic broadcaster Viaplay, claimed United had lacked passion. Carrick dismissed the suggestion as “ridiculous” and said, “It’s one game.”
The following week, United lost to Ipswich, another newly promoted side, before Fernandes equalised after a slip from Marcelino Nunez. Fernandes, who had just been named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26, then completed a hat-trick in a 5-2 win. United have not won a Premier League match since. At Everton, they twice took the lead, but Ainsley Maitland-Niles struck from long range in stoppage time to deny them. Asked how confident he was that his side could respond to a disappointing start, Carrick snapped back: “It’s not been that bad.”
Fitness problems surfaced repeatedly. United struggled against a Manchester City side reduced to 10 men in the first half, and City then benefited from an Erling Haaland goal that referees’ chief Howard Webb later admitted should not have stood. Carrick’s complaints after that match were fair, but they masked a poor performance. United also lost to Brighton in the EFL Cup after leading 2-0, and Cunha’s stoppage-time equaliser against Fulham, a side who began the game bottom, was the only positive Carrick could point to. Shortly after the international break, United conceded in injury time to a 10-man Tottenham side and dropped another point. Como beat them 4-1 after a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and Fernandes criticised Carrick’s tactics afterwards.
Martinez then criticised United’s summer recruitment after the 2-0 Atletico defeat and blamed “the technical director”, Wilcox. Shaw and Sesko were already injured by then, and Marcus Rashford has not played since. Carrick used five different players at left-back.
Injuries and recruitment
Carrick made mistakes, and the Hull performance was inexplicable. However, his recruitment support also let him down. A source close to one player questioned why so much attention went to midfield, given that the consequence was Fernandes being moved away from the central role he excelled in during the second half of last season.
Casemiro’s departure required a major replacement. After pursuing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and Mateus Fernandes from West Ham, United completed a £70m deal for Carlos Baleba from Brighton on 25 August. A pre-existing ankle injury delayed his debut until 10 October. He has started only five games and is now sidelined for an extended period with a hamstring problem. Tielemans arrived from Aston Villa for £35m, and Andrey Santos signed from Chelsea in a deal that could eventually cost £50m. Tielemans scored his first goal in the Villa thriller, but Santos has started four league games and spent much of the season on the bench.
Obvious gaps in the squad went unaddressed. Shaw started every Premier League game last season, but he has a long injury record, so United needed clear competition at left-back. Instead, the club backed off and hoped to sign Lewis Hall from Newcastle next summer. United’s back four for the first home game of the season was the same one that started their first home game under Ten Hag in 2022. They have conceded 30 goals this term, the most of any team in Europe’s top five leagues apart from Lens. Sesko finished last season injured, made only two substitute appearances before the transfer window closed, and is expected to be out until at least January.
Carrick was asked about further signings during the pre-season training camp on 13 August. “We want more, we need more,” he replied. Well-placed sources said it was clear to Carrick where the holes lay, and he expected more than a single new signing. Other United sources defended the recruitment strategy, arguing that it is easy to be wise after the event and that Kobbie Mainoo was the club’s only orthodox midfield option at the end of last season. They also maintained that the squad is capable of finishing in the Champions League places. More than a quarter of the way into the season, United are some way short of that target.
Carrick is the one who has paid the price. Berrada and Wilcox will hope that Pochettino’s appointment brings calm after another period of chaos.