Carrick survives the sack to lead Manchester United at Chelsea despite eight-game winless run

Michael Carrick will keep his job as Manchester United head coach and take charge of the Premier League trip to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the club confirmed, despite a winless run stretching to eight games.

Carrick had been widely expected to be dismissed after Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Bournemouth compounded a desperate start to the season that has yielded only two wins in 12 league games. A 4-1 Champions League loss to Como last week had only deepened the pressure on the 45-year-old.

High-level talks involving chief executive Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox, and co-owners the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe concluded with a decision to retain Carrick and give him the opportunity to reverse the club’s fortunes on the pitch. Berrada and Wilcox were at the Carrington training ground from 9am on Monday to discuss his future before reaching that verdict.

Carrick himself arrived at Carrington at his usual 7.30am on Tuesday and took training as normal, having also attended the ground on Monday afternoon to watch the Under-21s face Hull City in a behind-closed-doors fixture.

United’s statement of support notably extended beyond the manager, with the club making clear that the players share responsibility for the crisis — a signal that Carrick is not viewed as the sole cause of the slump.

Should results fail to improve, Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann are understood to be the leading candidates to replace him.