Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick sacking, Digi Mart USA News: Manchester United look increasingly likely to sack head coach Michael Carrick, according to a BBC Sport report published on November 9, 2026.
The club opted to stick with Carrick after a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth on October 25, with the intention of reassessing the situation during this month’s international break. Multiple sources told BBC Sport that the board remains committed to that process and that no final decision on Carrick’s future has been made.
However, there is a growing expectation that chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox will recommend to minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family that Carrick be sacked. A 4-4 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday left United, who are 18th in the table, with their worst start to a domestic campaign in 40 years.
BBC Sport reported in October that the club had sounded out former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann about replacing Carrick. Former Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is known to be keen on the role, and multiple sources told BBC Sport that former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is open to a move to Old Trafford.
Pochettino signed an extension to his contract as USA coach in August, but the deal is thought to contain clauses allowing him to leave for specific high-profile jobs. The United States has a two-legged Concacaf Nations League play-off with Haiti on November 14 and 18.
The Aston Villa draw was Carrick’s third match in charge since the club gave the 45-year-old more time at Old Trafford. Results during that stretch, a win, a draw and a defeat, were mixed, showing both the strengths and weaknesses of his reign.
United have conceded goals but shown good character to come back from two goals down on three occasions.
United’s board considered sacking Carrick after the loss to Bournemouth but decided he and his players had earned the chance to turn the club’s fortunes around. The two-week international break was also seen as a better opportunity to properly assess the start to the campaign.
The record is poor. With one victory in 10 Premier League matches, United have made their worst start to a top-flight campaign since the 1986/87 season.
They sit 18th, one point above bottom-placed Crystal Palace, and have conceded 19 Premier League goals this season, more than all but Crystal Palace and Ipswich.
Looking back, the 48 hours before United’s season-opening match at Hull were pivotal. Benjamin Sesko was still easing back from a shin issue, and Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury that ruled him out for seven weeks, depriving Carrick of his first-choice striking alternative.
Bryan Mbeumo was forced to play on the right of the attack, and Carrick turned to Matheus Cunha, whose deep-lying role took him into spaces captain Bruno Fernandes likes to occupy.
United struggled to meet the physical challenge of Hull, a side motivated by their Premier League return. Former Norway and Middlesbrough striker Jan Aage Fjortoft, working as an interviewer for Nordic broadcaster Viaplay, later claimed United had lacked passion.
Carrick dismissed the claim as “ridiculous,” saying, “It’s one game.”
The following week, United were losing to newly promoted Ipswich until a slip by Marcelino Nunez allowed Cunha to set up Fernandes for an equaliser. Fernandes, who had just been named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26, completed a hat-trick in a 5-2 win.
He has since scored just once in the league, a penalty against Aston Villa on Sunday.
United led twice in that match, with Sesko striking two minutes from full-time after coming on as a substitute. Deep into stoppage time, Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored from long range to deny the visitors.
Asked how confident he was that his side could react to a disappointing start, Carrick responded, “It’s not been that bad.”
United’s fitness was repeatedly questioned. They struggled against a Manchester City side reduced to 10 men in the first half before benefiting from an Erling Haaland goal that referees’ chief Howard Webb later admitted should not have stood.
Carrick’s complaints were justified, but they masked a poor performance by his team.
After taking a 2-0 lead against Brighton in the EFL Cup inside 10 minutes, United were outplayed and beaten, conceding two goals in four second-half minutes. The fine margins that helped United during Carrick’s interim spell were now going against them, and his coaching staff could not find an answer.
Carrick called Cunha’s injury-time equaliser against Fulham, a side that started the game bottom of the table, a positive to build on. However, immediately after the international break, United were held to another draw, conceding in injury time to an out-of-form, 10-man Tottenham.
Lisandro Martinez, who scored an own goal against Fulham, was at fault for Tottenham’s equaliser. After a 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid, he criticised United’s summer recruitment and placed the blame on “the technical director,” Wilcox.
By the time of Martinez’s comments, Sesko and left-back Luke Shaw were injured, and Marcus Rashford had not played since. The rotation at left-back that led to Carrick starting five different players in that role was in full swing.
After conceding in the opening minute against Atletico, United lost 4-1 in the Champions League to Como, and Fernandes publicly criticised Carrick’s tactics.
Fernandes was dropped for the Bournemouth game but returned as captain against Chelsea, and United were beaten in both matches. With just three wins in 15 matches in all competitions this season and United stuck in 18th in the Premier League, BBC Sport reports Carrick is set to pay the price.
