Michael Carrick Must Go Tonight, Says Carragher, After Man Utd Collapse

• Jamie Carragher said Michael Carrick “needs to be relieved of his duties tonight” after Manchester United lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth.
• Gary Neville said United are “probably going to sack him” and expects “a decision that will disgust Manchester United fans but it is probably necessary”.
• Carrick, 45, told reporters “See what happens” when asked about his future, with United winless in eight matches in all competitions.

The Fans Sang His Name While the Pundits Wrote His Exit

Jamie Carragher did not wait for the dust to settle at Old Trafford. “Michael Carrick needs to be relieved of his duties tonight,” he said after Manchester United lost 3-0 to Bournemouth. “Not just for the good of Manchester United but also for the good of Michael Carrick.”

Strikes from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson sank United on Sunday. The result leaves them with one win from eight Premier League games, 16th in the table and 14 points off the top. Their last league win came on 30 August, and they are winless in eight matches in all competitions. Seven points from eight games is their lowest return at this stage of a league season after 1986-87, when they had four.

Carragher called the situation “untenable”. “Manchester United need to make that decision tonight,” he said. He pointed to the captain, Bruno Fernandes, who Carrick left on the bench for the whole game after Fernandes questioned the manager’s tactics following Wednesday’s 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como. “Can you imagine going into the training ground tomorrow with Bruno Fernandes after not bringing him on? It’s a rancid dressing room,” Carragher said. “He doesn’t want to be sat in the dugout with those players.”

Neville Expects a Monday Decision

Gary Neville reached the same conclusion in Sky Sports’ match commentary. “It is going to get ridiculously difficult for Michael Carrick to be Manchester United manager moving forward,” he said. “That’s the problem the club have got.” On his podcast he went further: “They are probably going to sack him.”

Neville pointed at the chanting from the stands. The supporters sang the Carrick song, he said, “I think they know what’s going to happen here. They’ve seen this before. He’s one of their own and he’s popular.” He placed the blame elsewhere. “The owners, the sporting department and the players are not popular and they’ve badly let this football club down,” Neville said. He expects Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox to make “a decision that will disgust Manchester United fans but it is probably necessary” on Monday. His verdict on the club: “It’s just an absolute mess.”

Carrick, who made 464 appearances for United over 12 years as a player, did a lap of the pitch to applaud the fans at full-time. The chants for him turned to boos once he had left the field, as supporters appeared to show frustration with the club’s players and hierarchy. Clinton Morrison called it “alarming”. “They’re with Carrick the fans but they’re not with the players,” he said. Ashley Young said the supporters were right to back a club legend, but added that “the players on the pitch showed nothing. They didn’t run, they didn’t look like a team together.”

What Carrick and His Players Said

The 45-year-old took interim charge in January after Ruben Amorim left, and United gave him the permanent job in May after he steered them to a third-place finish and Champions League qualification. He has won two Premier League matches in the job as permanent manager. Asked by BBC Sport whether he expected conversations about his future, he gave little away. “See what happens,” Carrick said. “I’m not expecting anything. It’s just digesting today.” He said the emotion at the end of the game was something “I’ve not really had before”.

Carrick rejected the idea that his lap of the pitch was a goodbye. “It wasn’t a farewell from me,” he said. “I’ve mixed emotions, I’m feeling it for my players, they’re going through a tough spell.” He also admitted that “we haven’t had results or performances that have been good enough”.

Harry Maguire, who wore the armband in place of Fernandes, said the squad was behind the manager. “We’re fully behind Michael,” Maguire said, before conceding: “As individuals, we’re not playing well enough.” Of the club’s slide, he said players at United are “two or three games away” from facing it. “We will start winning football matches but we have to do it quickly,” he said.

Fernandes’ omission had been the talking point all week. Carrick called it “a football decision” before kick-off. It was only the sixth time Fernandes has been left on the bench for a Premier League game since joining the club in 2020. Now the verdict from the television studio is that the manager is finished, and Neville expects the men above Carrick to decide on Monday.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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