Manchester United v Aston Villa - Premier League - Old Trafford
Manchester United v Aston Villa - Premier League - Old Trafford | Martin Rickett - PA Images/GettyImages
Whether they are good or bad, it is impossible to prevent Manchester United from being top of the news agenda. Sunday's clash with Aston Villa will forever be an all-time Premier League classic, in which the Red Devils twice fought back from two goals down to, somehow, salvage a point.
Those who headed for home early missed both Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu injury-time goals to, against all odds, ensure the match finished as a 4-4 draw. Regardless, the Red Devils are now without a win in eight Premier League games, with their sole victory coming against Ipswich in August, making this their worst start to a campaign since 1972.
Once again, Old Trafford was a sea of green and gold, as the anti-Glazer and anti-INEOS protests continued. "We want Glazers out" chants are commonplace at this point, but fans telling the ownership to "stick your new stadium....", well we don't need to finish that, is a new edition.
Everyone agrees that this squad is devoid of quality and balance. The club is rotten to the core after over two decades of horrendous mismanagement at the ownership level. However, the easiestthing to change is, as always, the head coach.
As we enter the final international break of 2026, all the talk will surround Michael Carrick's future. So, this is what he had to say after full time on Sunday:
"I’m quite clear with what direction the club needs to go in, and it’s got to win games. We haven’t won enough games, but I expect to move forward and keep working on the things that we’ve been working on and showing a lot of the good in the game today, tighten up on a few mistakes and win football matches."
Michael Carrick
Later on, Carrick was asked if he believes this international break has come at a good time, a clever way of phrasing that particular question, and again would not be drawn on speculation around his own position:
"It's been a right mixed week or two or three, really, if you're looking at the events. But I'm pretty clear where we need to go and how we need to get there. And obviously some of the boys will be flying off around the world and different things, and the group will be split for 10 days or so. But as a normal international week is, you know, we'll have some training. We'll have one or two days off, but not too much. But we'll train, and we'll get ready for the next game."
Michael Carrick
Next up for Manchester United, in a fortnight, is a trip to Anfield to take on fierce rivals Liverpool. This is the first of 11 matches in the space of 35 days for the Red Devils, making it a very hectic period.
Thus, if the hierarchy has decided to make a managerial change, this international break has to be the time to do it. Whether they have come to a consensus on a candidate, and are able to actually appoint a replacement, is another question entirely.
For now, it feels likely Carrick will be in charge in Merseyside. He certainly seems quietly confident this will be the case.