Michael Carrick Manchester United review, Digi Mart USA News: Manchester United are moving towards sacking head coach Michael Carrick, although no final decision has been made by director of football Jason Wilcox, who is leading the review. Carrick was given the Chelsea, Roma and Aston Villa games to turn results around.
Wilcox has been consulting with chief executive Omar Berrada before a recommendation regarding Carrick is made to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls sporting policy. The club declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian on Monday night.
If Carrick is removed, Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as a potential candidate, as it is understood the USA head coach is open to the position. Sources indicate that Eddie Howe also remains on Wilcox’s radar.
The former Newcastle manager is taking a break from the game but would be open to considering the job.
United are in the Premier League relegation zone and have won three of 15 games in all competitions. Carrick came close to being removed after a 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth on 25 October.
After Wilcox and Berrada met the following day, Carrick was given three games until the international break to prove he and the players could reverse a dismal start.
A defeat, a win and a draw in those matches, along with the team’s displays and the overall run of form, have moved Wilcox and Berrada towards a position where they are minded to remove Carrick. There is a growing expectation within the club that he will lose his job, though the final decision is yet to be made.
In what may prove Carrick’s final three games in charge, United lost 2-0 at Chelsea, beat Roma 3-2 at Old Trafford and drew 4-4 at home against Villa on Sunday. At Chelsea, United impressed in the first half but failed to convert chances before conceding twice after the interval, the second from a penalty after Lisandro Martínez was sent off.
In the Roma victory, United were 2-0 behind in a poor opening 45 minutes before scoring three goals in a rousing second half. Against Villa, United twice trailed by two goals and entered added time 4-2 down, before strikes from Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu rescued a point.
After the Roma game, Carrick urged his team to build momentum, but within four minutes against Villa they were 2-0 down, continuing a pattern of conceding very early. In the 4-1 defeat at Como last month, Nico Paz scored after two minutes, following Pablo Barrios’s opener one minute into the 2-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid the previous week.
