Manchester United are reportedly prepared to give Michael Carrick until the November international break before making any decision on his future.

That stance comes after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, a match that slipped away from the visitors once Lisandro Martínez was sent off just after the hour. The result extended United’s winless sequence to nine games, the club’s worst such stretch since 1988, long before the Premier League era began.

The Athletic report that United hope to reach the international break before they are forced to act on Carrick’s position. The timing fits with the confidence Carrick showed after the final whistle in west London, when he said he expected to still be in charge for Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Roma.

United have two matches left before the break. First comes Roma, a side arriving in form with a five-game unbeaten run and 18 goals scored during that spell. Carrick’s defence will face another demanding test, even with Old Trafford behind them, and United are seeking only their second Champions League victory of the season.

Five days later, Aston Villa arrive. United beat them 3-1 last March in one of the brighter moments of Carrick’s interim spell, but repeating that outcome now looks considerably more difficult. Villa, after beating Manchester City last weekend, present a tougher challenge for a side with only two wins in all competitions this season.

Opinion around Carrick remains split. Some believe the blame lies mainly with the players and with sporting director Jason Wilcox after a poor summer transfer window. Others cannot understand why United have not already moved on after such a difficult start to 2026-27.

United have seven points from nine Premier League matches and sit 17th. They are level on points with Crystal Palace in 18th and remain outside the bottom three only by virtue of goal difference, at -5.

Asked whether there is any stigma around United being in the relegation zone, Carrick said, “Not from me, no.” When pressed on the prospect of a survival battle, he added, “Got to keep moving forward and winning games, simple as that,” and then said, “There’s no words that I’m going to explain to you now that makes it any different; it’s not going to change it.”

Alexis Mac Allister has offered a blunt assessment of Liverpool’s recent past, saying “something wasn’t right” in the squad under Arne Slot before praising the impact of the Dutchman’s successor, Andoni Iraola, for correcting it.

Liverpool began the 2025-26 campaign strongly enough to disguise deeper problems, but those issues were closely tied to the tragic death of Diogo Jota the previous summer. The team’s form then unravelled badly, eventually producing their worst run of results since the rationing period in the United Kingdom after the Second World War.

Even after repeatedly insisting his job was secure, Slot was still dismissed once he had done enough to secure Champions League qualification. Iraola, who had finished one place behind Liverpool with Bournemouth on far fewer resources, was appointed soon afterwards.

The transition has not been seamless. Liverpool have moved away from the control-first approach of the previous regime and towards the more chaotic style associated with Iraola. The progress has not followed a straight line, but the overall trend has been upwards.

Mac Allister underlined that change after scoring twice in Tuesday’s 4-3 Champions League win over Villarreal. “Something wasn’t right in the group and this manager changed it,” he told Amazon Prime. “The way we play is different, I don’t like to compare,” he added, while making a fairly stark comparison.

Iraola himself acknowledged there were issues to address when he arrived. “When I came here, the owners told me everything is not perfect,” he admitted.

Defensive structure had clearly been one of the main concerns. Liverpool’s total of 53 Premier League goals conceded was their worst in the competition since 1993-94.

Iraola’s answer has been a major tactical overhaul. Instead of organising Liverpool around set zones within a defined shape, he has asked them to press opponents directly in a man-to-man system.

“Now it’s more man-to-man,” Mac Allister explained. “You have to communicate less. Last year, it was more like a zonal thing. I like both. In the national team, we do zonal and it works. It’s about us taking the responsibility. It’s one of the changes. Now it’s easier, you think less but run more.”

Lisandro Martínez’s latest setback has put Manchester United in another holding pattern, with the defender’s condition still uncertain after he was withdrawn at half-time in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road.

The Argentina international started the game but did not come out for the second half, as United adjusted their shape after the interval. Ayden Heaven was already unavailable because of illness, and the team appeared to move to a back three when Martínez was replaced by returning fullback Noussair Mazraoui.

After the match, Michael Carrick said Martínez had “felt his thigh a little bit.” That brief assessment suggested caution rather than alarm, with no immediate indication that the issue was severe. Carrick also offered no further details, leaving the club to wait for a fuller update when he next speaks to reporters on Tuesday.

The timing matters, with United due to face Como in the Champions League on Wednesday. At this stage, it seems difficult to imagine Martínez being pushed into that match so soon after coming off against Leeds. If the problem is minor and carefully managed, he could be back in contention relatively quickly. The more realistic short-term target may be Bournemouth, when the Premier League schedule resumes on Sunday.

Martínez’s injury record since arriving from Ajax in the summer of 2022 remains a significant concern. Across his first four years at the club, he made 110 appearances in all competitions, averaging fewer than 28 a season. Transfermarkt estimates that he has spent a total of 632 days sidelined in that period.

For now, United are waiting for the next update, with the hope that this is another brief interruption rather than something more serious.