Manchester United have sacked Michael Carrick as head coach with the club in the Premier League relegation zone, and Mauricio Pochettino is poised to take over. The decision followed a review led by Jason Wilcox and a meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, before the board approved it. According to Theguardian.com.
Carrick sacked as United’s review chain ends with Pochettino lined up
The route to the decision ran through the top of the club’s structure. A review led by director of football Jason Wilcox ended in a recommendation to Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls sporting policy, and Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada travelled to Monaco to meet him. A board meeting involving the Glazer family then approved the sacking.
Carrick still turned up for work on Thursday morning, as he had each day this week, though his dismissal was already effectively settled. In their statement, United said “a change is necessary in order to achieve our ambitions” and described him as “a Manchester United legend”, citing his professionalism and his leadership last season.
The league table explains the urgency. United are third from bottom of the Premier League, a point behind 17th-placed Coventry, and 17th in the Champions League standings. They have one win from their past 11 matches, and the club consider 18th place in the league unacceptable after what they called a disappointing start to the season.
Pochettino, the USA head coach, has a framework agreement to take over at United and a release clause of about $10m (£7.5m). United will have to pay more to take his staff. He managed Southampton, Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League, left Chelsea in May 2024 and took the USA job four months later.
Pochettino was not the only name considered. Eddie Howe, out of work since leaving Newcastle in July, had been on Wilcox’s radar, while Julian Nagelsmann, the former Germany and Bayern Munich coach, was the initial choice of director of recruitment Christopher Vivell. United ultimately targeted Pochettino.
Carrick was appointed in May on a contract to 2028 after an interim spell in which he secured Champions League qualification. He won 12 and drew three of his 17 games last season, but United have only three victories so far this season in all competitions, at home to Ipswich, Sabah and Roma.
United gave Carrick three games after a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth to show he remained the right man. They felt the displays against Roma, Villa and in an initial 2-0 loss at Chelsea showed the team heading in the wrong direction, and that another coach could extract considerably more from the squad.
Carrick is the second head coach fired by United in one calendar year, after Ruben Amorim went in January, a first for the club. The dismissal also follows a spell of turmoil in which Bruno Fernandes challenged Carrick’s strategy after a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como and Lisandro Martínez criticised Wilcox.
