Michael Carrick has been sacked as Manchester United manager, with his final weeks in charge marked by clashes with captain Bruno Fernandes and striker Matheus Cunha, before he was shown the door on Thursday following days of mounting speculation about his position.
United have managed just one victory from their opening 10 Premier League fixtures this season and sit in the relegation zone heading into the international break. A 4-4 draw against Aston Villa proved insufficient to lift them out of the drop zone.
Mauricio Pochettino is widely expected to take over at Old Trafford, with a broad agreement reportedly reached between him and US Soccer. Despite signing a fresh contract with the USA, a release clause reported at £7.5m has paved the way for United to make their move.
Carrick was handed the Manchester United job on a permanent basis in the summer after steering the club into the Champions League during the second half of last season, though this campaign has fallen well short of expectations.
Tensions reportedly simmered between Carrick and Cunha in the aftermath of a comeback victory over Roma. The striker was sent off in stoppage time, just minutes after United had battled back from two goals down to win 3-2. Carrick then blocked Cunha's attempt to rush onto the pitch to join his teammates' celebrations, instead sending him back down the tunnel in what was described as an effort to shield the player from further punishment, since regulations bar players from entering the pitch immediately after the final whistle.
Tensions also surfaced with club captain Bruno Fernandes, who appeared to challenge Carrick's tactics following a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como last month. Asked whether the game plan had been wrong, Fernandes said: "That's on the manager and staff to see, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw with them, the centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to. A team that plays through the middle with small connections, if you give them too much time and space then they can hurt you out wide."
Following those comments, Fernandes was dropped to the bench for the next Premier League match, as United lost 3-0 to Bournemouth. Carrick maintained that the decision was based purely on footballing grounds. Days later, the two held frank talks and the matter was considered settled, with Fernandes restored to the starting line-up for the following game against Chelsea and featuring in every match since.
A report a day earlier had described United's board as preparing to dismiss Carrick during the international break following the poor Premier League results, with a preliminary agreement said to have been reached with Pochettino that could see him in place in time for the Liverpool fixture on 22 November.
