United board's private agreement delays Carrick sack decision after ninth winless game

Manchester United’s board privately agreed to hold off sacking Michael Carrick until the November international break, but a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday has renewed pressure on the manager and forced the club’s hierarchy to reassess once again.

Carrick’s side have now gone nine matches without a win and sit outside the relegation zone only on goal difference — the closest United have been to the bottom three since November 1986, when Alex Ferguson was appointed to begin his transformative tenure.

United made a reasonable start against Chelsea before their defensive discipline collapsed. Morgan Rogers opened the scoring, and Lisandro Martinez’s red card effectively ended any hope of a comeback. The result leaves United four points from the top half of the Premier League table and nine adrift of the top four.

According to The Athletic, United’s leadership will take stock after the club’s next two fixtures — a Champions League tie against Roma and a Premier League match against Aston Villa — before deciding on their next move. Carrick himself confirmed he expects to be in the dugout for the Roma game when asked directly by a reporter after the final whistle. “Yes,” he replied, before adding: “Got to keep moving forward and winning games, simple as that. There’s no words that I’m going to explain to you now that makes it any different. You can move up the league quite quickly if you win football matches.”

Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox were both present at Stamford Bridge and are expected to advise the ownership group — including Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers — on any potential successor. Both Wilcox and the wider board were the target of chanting from United’s travelling support during the match.

Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann are understood to be among the candidates under consideration, though Nagelsmann has also been linked with a move to Juventus, which could complicate any approach.

Arsenal, meanwhile, could extend their lead over United at the top of the table to 17 points if they beat Liverpool.