Neville 'surprised' United kept Carrick after 16th-place slump and 3-0 home loss

Gary Neville expected Michael Carrick to lose his job after Manchester United’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday dropped the club to 16th in the Premier League, but the United board have opted to give the manager more time to turn the season around.

United have won just two of their 12 matches across all competitions this season, a run that also includes a 4-1 Champions League loss at Como. Carrick arrived at Carrington early on Tuesday morning with his future still uncertain, though training is understood to have proceeded as normal, with the squad now focused on a Premier League trip to Chelsea.

“I am surprised, but I am happy because I was absolutely certain that what I witnessed on Sunday would be the end of Michael,” Neville said. “It looked like he was walking round at the end on his own with the players behind him, like it was almost a goodbye lap — he is waving to the fans in almost an apologetic manner, but also a goodbye. So I am really surprised that ultimately Michael is still in a job.”

Neville, who captained United and played alongside Carrick under Sir Alex Ferguson, sympathises with his former team-mate but sees no easy path back. “I hope he can get somehow those players to start playing for him again because they haven’t played for him in the last few weeks,” he added.

Former United winger Ashley Young raised a longer-term concern, questioning whether the club could attract a high-profile replacement if they eventually part ways with Carrick. “What manager is going to come in and say, ‘I want to work with this squad’?” Young said. “For me, the best manager in the world, Luis Enrique, would look at Manchester United now, look at that squad and say, ‘I’m not touching that. I’m not going there.’”

Young also placed responsibility on the players themselves. “The players need to be better, but how many different windows are you going to need to get those players in?” he said, pointing to the scale of the rebuild required regardless of who is in the dugout.

Carrick’s immediate test comes at Stamford Bridge, where a result against Chelsea would offer at least temporary relief for a club that has rarely looked so rudderless in the Premier League era.