London (AFP) - Manchester United is heading to dismiss its coach, Michael Carrick, due to the "Red Devils" team's disastrous start in the English Premier League this season, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Published on: 10/11/2026 - 13:29

The club's management is currently conducting an internal review of the team's disastrous performance, as United is experiencing its worst start in 40 years, making it threatened with relegation as it sits in eighteenth place with 8 points after a series of 8 consecutive matches during which it did not taste victory.

Carrick's fate is expected to be decided during a meeting held on Wednesday in Monaco, in the presence of prominent shareholder Jim Ratcliffe, Moroccan CEO Omar Berrada, and sporting director Jason Wilcox.

Although a final decision has not yet been made, reports indicate that Berrada and Wilcox are leaning towards terminating Carrick's duties.

Ratcliffe and the Glazer family, the club's owners, will have to make the final decision on this recommendation, with an official announcement likely to be made on Thursday.

Carrick was seen arriving at the club's Carrington training center on Tuesday, but it seems that his departure from his position is only a matter of time.

The 45-year-old coach had previously escaped dismissal, as he was expected to leave in late October following a 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

But the club's sudden decision to keep him did not lead to any tangible improvement in performance, especially on the defensive level. United lost to Chelsea 0-2, then achieved a hard-fought victory over Roma of Italy 3-2 in the Champions League, after being two goals behind.

The departure of Carrick, the former United midfielder, seemed inevitable on Sunday, when his team trailed by two goals twice against Aston Villa.

Despite United's success in scoring two goals during stoppage time and snatching an exciting 4-4 ​​draw, which was considered a positive indicator of the players' adherence to their coach, the club's decision-makers appear to be moving to make a new change in the technical staff, seeking to avoid sliding into an embarrassing relegation battle.

Several names have been linked to taking over as United coach, including the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, the US national team coach, Eddie Howe, the former Newcastle coach, the Italian Antonio Conte, the former Chelsea coach, and the German Julian Nagelsmann, the former coach of Manschaft.

United have the remainder of the two-week international break to resolve the technical management file, before returning to competitions against arch-rival Liverpool on November 22.

Carrick's tenure as coach saw the team drop to eighteenth place, which is the lowest ranking it has reached after 10 rounds of a Premier League season since the 1986-1987 season, when it was ranked twentieth.

Carrick was appointed to his position permanently during the period between the two seasons, after he led the team to occupy third place in the Premier League during his period as interim coach.

Carrick received widespread praise for his ability to restore stability to the team following the dismissal of Portuguese Ruben Amorim in January, after a period characterized by turmoil.

However, in light of the weak deals concluded by the club during the transfer period, the Carrick team suffered a sharp decline this season.

United, which had not won the league title since Sir Alex Ferguson's last season in 2012-2013, limited themselves in the summer transfer market to including three midfield players, namely Belgian Youri Tielemans, Cameroonian Carlos Baleba and Brazilian Andre Santos, despite the urgent need to strengthen the attacking line.

Carrick also faced difficulty in maintaining discipline within United's ranks, as he excluded Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes after the latter criticized his coach's tactics during the harsh defeat by Italian Como 1-4 in the main continental competition in which the latter was participating for the first time in his history.

Carrick also excluded Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez after he criticized the club's management for the lack of high-quality deals.

Despite these failures, United fans remained largely supportive of Carrick, directing their anger instead at the Glazer family, Ratcliffe and the players who did not perform as expected.

© 2026 AFP

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