Manchester United\u2019s support base may have played a decisive role in keeping Michael Carrick in place, after a striking split in the reaction at Old Trafford prompted what one report described as a \u201cmoment of realization\u201d inside the dressing room.<\/p>\n
Carrick was met with warm applause and songs from his playing days, while the players were booed heavily once he made his way down the tunnel. That contrast was not lost on those in the squad, who were said to understand that Carrick would not immediately \u201cpay the price\u201d for the team\u2019s poor form. As David Ornstein put it, \u201cWe\u2019ve not managed to see off another coach,\u201d became the conclusion, with a determination to \u201cput this right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision-makers, including sporting director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada, are understood to have assessed the mood inside the dressing room after the defeat to Bournemouth. That process left them willing to give Carrick at least until the approaching international break.<\/p>\n
United\u2019s next outing brought another defeat, though the performance was more competitive. They were the better side in a goalless first half against Chelsea, only to lose control after the interval. The hosts took the lead within five minutes of the restart, before Lisandro Mart\u00ednez\u2019s red card on the hour mark opened the door for Cole Palmer to convert a decisive penalty.<\/p>\n
There was further evidence of resolve in midweek against Roma. United trailed 2-0 at the break and looked vulnerable to a heavier defeat, but responded to win 3-2. Even so, the second half was shaped by the fact that Roma failed to register a shot, on target or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Several players have publicly backed Carrick, insisting the dressing room remains behind him. Bruno Fernandes, recalled after being dropped for questioning his manager\u2019s tactics against Como, has also suggested limited communication with the coach during the tense period.<\/p>\n
Ornstein also said the broader managerial market mattered. United were not thought to have a clear \u201cdream target\u201d available immediately, while Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann both have supporters inside the club. Antonio Conte, meanwhile, was not viewed as an obvious short-notice option if a summer pre-season was required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fans backed Carrick while players were booed, helping convince United to keep him for now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[1836,180,182],"class_list":["post-22265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}