Manchester United have dismissed Michael Carrick following a damaging 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, a result that left the club 18th in the Premier League and intensified a season already heading in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n
Carrick, a former United midfielder, had initially arrived as interim manager in January after the dismissal of Ruben Amorim. At the time, the club sat seventh in the table, and Carrick steadied results with a 12-3-2 run to finish third. That form earned him the permanent role.<\/p>\n
This campaign has been a stark contrast. United are the only Premier League side yet to win more than once, with their sole league victory coming against newly promoted Ipswich Town on Aug. 30. Since then, the Red Devils have recorded five draws and three defeats in league play. They are now only one point above last place.<\/p>\n
The situation is striking, but with the season just over a quarter complete, there is still time for recovery. What happens next will be watched closely, particularly by followers of the U.S. men\u2019s national team, given the reports linking United with Mauricio Pochettino.<\/p>\n
According to multiple reports, United have identified the USMNT coach as their preferred candidate to fill the vacancy. Pochettino recently re-signed to lead the U.S. through the 2030 World Cup, but his contract includes a buyout clause that could allow him to take the United job.<\/p>\n
The timing may suit a change. The Premier League is in an international break, and United do not play again until Nov. 22. That would give any new manager time to settle before the club travels to Liverpool in its first game after the restart.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, there is growing confidence that North Carolina State will appoint Philip Rivers as its next football coach. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported that Rivers \u201chas formally accepted\u201d the job, while ESPN\u2019s Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel said the school\u2019s board of trustees will meet on Friday to finalize his contract.<\/p>\n
Rivers, 44, was a four-year starter for the Wolfpack before an 18-season NFL career. He returned from a four-year retirement last season to start three games for the Colts after injuries to two Indianapolis quarterbacks. His coaching r\u00e9sum\u00e9 remains limited, though he is currently head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama, where he has led state semifinal runs in 2024 and \u201925.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United are 18th after sacking Carrick, with Pochettino linked and safety still in reach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[1836,59,182],"class_list":["post-22420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-featured","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22420","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=22420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}