Michael Carrick has arrived at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground this morning with his job hanging by a thread after a day of crisis talks.
United’s players are due back in training today after Monday’s scheduled day off following Sunday’s disastrous 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth.
It remains to be seen whether Carrick will be the man to take the session, with the 45-year-old admitting after Sunday’s defeat that he did not know what the future holds.
United take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox were at the club’s Carrington training ground yesterday and are understood to have held conference calls with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer.
It is unclear if United have reached a final decision over whether to sack Carrick or if he will take training this morning.
Michael Carrick is pictured arriving at Manchester United training before 8am on Tuesday
Carrick is in the dark over his future with the expectation he will be sacked by United soon
Carrick was also at the training ground on Monday to watch a behind-closed-doors game against Hull City while Berrada and Wilcox discussed his future in another part of the complex. It is not known if the 45-year-old spoke to them during his three hours there.
Jamie Carragher this morning suggested United could be ‘broken’ and said Carrick is ‘not at the level they really need’.
On The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Carragher said: ‘Were we looking at a broken football club , in terms of the players, your captain being on the bench? There was no way in the world Michael Carrick was ever bringing him on, no matter what would have happened in that game, he was never coming on.
‘It’s been up and down for Man United. It’s been worse than that, shall we say. But that to me felt almost as bad as it’s been at different times because of that complete nothing on the pitch.
‘Bruno Fernandes sitting there on the bench, your best player, PFA Player of the Year last year…. Michael Carrick really probably not at the level Manchester United need in the dugout, and losing 3-0, and it could have been five or six.’
If United decide to change head coach again, Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann – both currently out of work and able to take over immediately – are the leading candidates after bookmakers stopped taking bets on Carrick being sacked.
Although Howe is available after leaving Newcastle in the summer, it’s understood that United would still owe his old club around £3million in compensation as well as having to pay off Carrick and his coaching staff.
