Michael Carrick attracted large amounts of criticism following Wednesday’s defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion in the EFL Cup.
The loss, which sees Manchester United crashout of the competition in their first game for the second consecutive season, has formed part of a disappointing beginning to the season for United.
With just one win in four Premier League matches, and four points from those fixtures, focus is firmly on Carrick to see how he can turn bad form into good form in the coming months.
That work starts tomorrow when the side face Fulham in their final fixture before the 16-day international break gets underway across the world.
The Cottagers, 18th in the league currently, have equally had a bad start to the season with one point from their four Premier League matches.
Ahead of the game at Craven Cottage, Manchester Evening News have said that Carrick still has the confidence of both Chief Executive Officer Omar Berrada and Director of Football Jason Wilcox.
The publication have also noted that the United manager has more credit in the bank now than Ruben Amorim ever did during his tenure at Old Trafford.
Those reports match others published by the BBC, which stated that Carrick still had the confidence of those in the club’s hierarchy, even after defeat in the EFL Cup.
With confidence from those high up in the club, focus now remains on whether Michael Carrick can end the first section of this season on a high end.
Three points for his side tomorrow could take them into the Premier League top half but defeat could plummet them further down the top and pile further pressure on Carrick and the club throughout the international break.
For the manager, the importance of tomorrow’s match cannot be understated and could be one that the club look back on throughout the season, either as one to forget or a positive highlight.