Michael Carrick Faces Pressure as Man Utd Win Just Three of 15 Matches
With just three wins in 15 matches in all competitions this season and United stuck in 18th in the Premier League, Michael Carrick is set to pay the price.
The mounting pressure follows a difficult run of results and performances that have left the team struggling near the bottom of the table.
The problems began in the 48 hours before United’s season-opening match at Hull, when Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury ruling him out for seven weeks alongside Benjamin Sesko easing back from a shin issue.
Carrick turned to Matheus Cunha, whose tendency to drop deep occupied spaces preferred by captain Bruno Fernandes, neutralizing the attack against a motivated Hull side. Former Norway and Middlesbrough striker Jan Aage Fjortoft claimed United lacked passion, a remark Carrick dismissed as ridiculous
and defended by stating, It’s one game.
United subsequently struggled through a series of disappointing fixtures. Following a 5-2 win sparked by an Ipswich slip and a Fernandes hat-trick, United conceded a long-range stoppage-time equalizer to Ainsley Maitland-Niles in a draw against Everton.
When asked about his confidence in the side’s ability to react, Carrick snapped back, It’s not been that bad.
However, fitness questions arose as United struggled against 10-man Manchester City—benefiting from an Erling Haaland goal referees’ chief Howard Webb admitted should not have stood—and threw away a 2-0 lead against Brighton in the EFL Cup.
Compounding the poor form was a wave of injuries affecting Sesko, Luke Shaw, and Marcus Rashford, forcing Carrick to use five different players in the left-back role. Internal friction also surfaced when Lisandro Martinez criticized United’s summer recruitment and blamed the technical director
Wilcox following a 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid.
After a 4-1 Champions League defeat by Como where the team conceded inside the first two minutes, Fernandes criticized Carrick’s tactics, leading to the playmaker being dropped for the Bournemouth game and returning as captain in a defeat at Chelsea.
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