Manchester United are expected to sack head coach Michael Carrick during the November international break, with Mauricio Pochettino emerging as the favourite to take over at Old Trafford. The Athletic reported on Monday that United intend to relieve Carrick of his duties, and that work on finding his replacement is already under way.
The report, by David Ornstein, Adam Crafton and Laurie Whitwell, states plainly that "Manchester United are expected to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties as head coach". The club continues to insist that no final decision has been reached and that nothing is set in stone, but multiple sources told The Athletic that work has been undertaken on potential replacements and the anticipation is that a change will be made before United’s next match, the trip to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, 22 November.
It would be a brutal end to a reign that began with such promise. Carrick stepped in as interim head coach after Ruben Amorim was sacked last season, steadied a drifting side and did enough to have the interim tag removed in the summer. But this season has unravelled fast. United have won just one of their ten Premier League games, sit 18th in the table with eight points, and are without a win in eight league matches. Their only league victory of the campaign came against Ipswich Town at home on 30 August.
Sunday’s 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford summed up the mess. United twice fought back, and Patrick Dorgu’s header in the sixth minute of stoppage time rescued a point, but the performance did little to calm the storm around the manager. For a club that started the season believing it could challenge for the title and return to European football, spending the international break in the relegation zone was the point of no return.
Michael Carrick: how the decision is being made
The Guardian reported that director of football Jason Wilcox is leading the process to decide Carrick’s future, working with chief executive Omar Berrada before making a recommendation to co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Any final call will also need the approval of the Glazer family, the club’s majority owners.
That structure matters, because the decision is not simply about one bad run. United’s hierarchy met on Monday, the day after the Villa draw, and the direction of travel since then has been unmistakable. Reports elsewhere suggested the club would not rush, given the next match is not for almost two weeks, but The Athletic’s reporting is clear: the expectation inside the game now is that Carrick goes before Anfield.
The timing also tells its own story. Sacking a manager during an international break gives a successor a full fortnight to work with the players who stay behind before the hardest away fixture on the calendar. It also spares the new man the indignity of starting his reign at Anfield, even if he will be judged there soon enough. For more on United’s slide, read our report on the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa and our earlier piece on Carrick’s future in doubt.
Pochettino leads the race to replace Michael Carrick
Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as the front-runner to succeed Michael Carrick, according to ESPN‘s Mark Ogden and Rob Dawson. The United States head coach is now the favourite with the bookmakers too, having climbed above former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in the odds over recent hours.
Pochettino would be an obvious fit in one sense and a complicated appointment in another. He has been linked with the United job for years and has interviewed for it on three separate occasions, most recently before the club turned to Erik ten Hag in 2022. talkSPORT reported on Monday that he would be open to returning to club football at Old Trafford if the job is offered to him, and The Sun reported the same.
The complication is his contract. Pochettino signed a new four-year deal with the United States in August, running until 2030 after he led the hosts to the last 16 of the World Cup in the summer. But that agreement is understood to contain a release clause, reported to be around $10 million, which multiple sources believe would not prove prohibitive if United choose to proceed. ESPN also reports that Howe, Nagelsmann and former Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna are among the other candidates being considered.
Whoever takes over inherits a squad short on confidence and a fixture list that offers no mercy. After Liverpool away on 22 November, United face a run that will define their season, and the new manager will be expected to drag the club out of the relegation zone fast. The betting markets may have made their call, but until the club confirms it, Carrick remains in post — and the next 48 hours will tell us whether the expectation becomes reality. For today’s predictions across the leagues, check our page.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, Arne Müseler) — collage by SportsBuddy.
