After United’s humiliating 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday, the club is back to the same lows it experienced not too long ago in Ruben Amorim’s first Premier League season. But this time, it feels a little bit different—more “empty.”
Among fans, there seems to be an impending sense of numbness. For Michael Carrick, the outcome seems inevitable following eight straight games without a victory, leaving United sitting at 16th place in the Premier League table.
This time, the majority of fans aren’t putting the burden on the manager. Instead, they’re directing the blame towards the ownership. Year after year, United’s owners appoint a manager just to refuse to give him the players he needs to succeed and sack him a year later.
Carrick’s tactics have been questionable, but when the Manchester United boss is expected to perform with five out of 11 starters playing out-of-position, there’s only so much he can do. In the 2026 summer transfer window, fans called for not just three new midfielders, but also reinforcements at right back and left back, as well as a backup striker. Now, the owners might be wishing they had made those signings. Fans continuously pleaded for replacements for Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw. Now, with Shaw injured, Carrick is left with one senior left back in his squad: 19-year-old Harry Amass, whom he refuses to play. Signing a backup striker seemed like a priority due to Benjamin Sesko’s uncertain injury situation and Joshua Zirkzee’s lack of performance. With Sesko still out recovering from his re-aggravated shin injury, Carrick has been forced to rotate wingers like Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo up top.
After Sunday’s loss, supporters at Old Trafford made their feelings known with banners that read “Standards” and “Destroyed by snakes and rats.” Surprisingly, fans cheered on Carrick as he walked off the pitch to show their support, then quickly booed the players once Carrick reached the tunnel after yet another horrific performance. Ever since the 3-2 collapse loss to Brighton in the EFL cup, it feels as if the players have fully given up on Carrick.
Sadly, no matter how many chants or banners are displayed at Old Trafford, it doesn’t feel like Manchester United’s executive leadership will change any time soon.
The question that remains is how United can recover from this. The answer is clear, but without ownership changes, long-term success feels virtually impossible. The club hasn’t won a Premier League title since 2013, and every year the crisis seems to grow larger and larger.
BBC Sport listed the leading candidates to replace Michael Carrick as former Bayern Munich and Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann, who was also in contention to take over before the club appointed Carrick full-time, and former Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, who resigned from the Magpies just a few months ago.
Julian Nagelsmann seems to be the more reasonable option among the two, and could approach fixtures with more effective tactics than Michael Carrick did, but there’s only so much success to be had if these managers yet again aren’t allowed to make critical decisions like choosing which players sign for their club. If they’re forced to “work with what they have” as the owners aim to budget and fight off the billion dollars of debt they’ve accumulated in their time here, no manager will be able to truly succeed for multiple years straight at Manchester United Football Club.
Antonio Conte remains an option on the table, but United fans all know the owners would never appoint a manager like Conte, who would instantly call the club out for what it is and have it his way.
Lisandro Martinez was bold enough to call out Jason Wilcox’s lack of ambition after the 2-0 Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid. Omar Berrada affirmed that their target is to win the Premier League by 2028 in an interview a few months back, and that looks like a joke now. Avram and Joel Glazer along with Sir Jim Ratcliffe will continue to stay hesitant to write out checks.
As Ralf Rangnick once said, “an operation at the open heart” is necessary for this club to return to where it once was. Top-four finishes here and there and domestic cup wins are attainable, but that seems to be the ceiling for United as long as the ownership stays in place.