Allardyce claims Manchester United have ended Carrick's managerial career after squad 'shafted' him

Sam Allardyce has made a stark prediction about Michael Carrick’s future in football, claiming that his dismissal by Manchester United has all but ended his managerial career. Carrick was relieved of his duties on Thursday after United’s catastrophic start to the 2026/27 Premier League season — one win in ten matches left them 18th in the table before the club moved to appoint Mauricio Pochettino.

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce argued that Carrick, 45, has little financial incentive to return to the dugout and may simply choose to walk away from management altogether following back-to-back difficult exits at Middlesbrough and Old Trafford.

“I don’t think Michael Carrick will manage at all again — I think this will have finished him,” Allardyce said. “I think he’ll be saying, ‘I’m not bothered with any of this now.’ It wasn’t great, what happened at Middlesbrough, was it? And Michael Carrick, in his position, doesn’t need another job in management, financially. He’d only need to do it if he wants to go out and prove people wrong if he gets the opportunity again. But he may well just choose to slip away quietly.”

Allardyce was equally pointed in his assessment of where the blame lies for United’s collapse. While acknowledging that the board showed patience before pulling the trigger, he directed his sharpest criticism at the players themselves.

“The Manchester United board gave him as long as they could. But the players have shafted him,” he said. “You can’t play for that man as well as you did last season and then give up on him for whatever reason. I don’t know what’s caused the turnaround, but he’ll have an idea why the squad is not as good as when he finished last season.”

Allardyce also identified a specific tactical problem he believes undermined Carrick’s setup: the midfield pairing of summer signing Youri Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo. He argued the combination left United dangerously exposed in transition.

“Tielemans and Mainoo can’t play together because they can’t run,” Allardyce said. “They can run, but not quick enough. That brings criticism from all the punters. But I’ll tell you why they don’t do more: because they can’t. They physically can’t.”

Pochettino will take charge of a fractured squad ahead of a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in his first game as United manager — a fixture that underlines the scale of the rebuild facing the incoming Argentine.