Carrick survives sack threat to lead Manchester United against Chelsea after eight-game winless run

Michael Carrick will keep his job as Manchester United manager for at least another week after sporting director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada decided against dismissing him following a run of eight games without a win.

The 45-year-old’s position had appeared increasingly precarious after United suffered back-to-back heavy defeats — a 4-1 loss to Como and a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth — but the club hierarchy have opted to give him the opportunity to arrest the slide. Carrick took training as normal on Tuesday as he prepares for Saturday’s trip to Stamford Bridge.

United are understood to have begun identifying potential replacements, with Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte among the names under consideration, though no move has been made. Berrada and Wilcox were both present at the club’s Carrington training base on Monday, when the players had a scheduled day off, underlining the level of scrutiny on the situation.

Carrick made the bold decision to drop captain Bruno Fernandes for the Bournemouth defeat after the Portugal international publicly criticised his tactical approach following the loss in Italy, and did not bring him on as a substitute. The move backfired spectacularly, with United producing one of their most listless performances of the season.

Despite the result, Carrick received a notable show of support from the Old Trafford crowd, with supporters chanting his name even as they booed the players and directed anger at Wilcox and co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family.

United’s schedule offers little respite in the coming weeks. After Chelsea, they host Roma in the Champions League before a Premier League fixture against Aston Villa, all before the international break — a sequence that will likely determine whether Carrick’s tenure continues beyond the short term.