A two-year contract and a promising pre-season appeared to signal a new era at Manchester United. Fifteen games later, Michael Carrick has been relieved of his duties — the third managerial change at the club in as many seasons.

A promising start undone

Last season, Carrick guided United to 12 wins from 17 league matches and secured a return to the UEFA Champions League. The mood heading into pre-season was optimistic: young players such as JJ Gabriel integrated smoothly, and senior staff spoke encouragingly about the potential of Bruno Fernandes' midfield partnership with Youri Tielemans.

Yet the first cracks appeared in the 48 hours before United's season opener at Hull. Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury that kept him sidelined for seven weeks, forcing Bryan Mbeumo to operate on the right of the attack and pushing Carrick toward Matheus Cunha as the leading striker. Cunha's tendency to drop deep repeatedly clashed with Fernandes' preferred areas, blunting United's attack from the outset.

Defeats, outbursts, and a downward spiral

United's Premier League campaign unravelled quickly. After an unexpected 5-2 win over Ipswich — driven by a Fernandes hat-trick — the club has not claimed another top-flight victory. Leads against Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were squandered in stoppage time; a Manchester City side reduced to 10 men still took the points; and a 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth left the Carrick era seemingly finished before it had properly begun.

Tensions within the squad surfaced publicly when defender Lisandro Martinez, following a 2-0 UEFA Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid, publicly criticised the club's summer transfer business and pointed his finger at director of football Jason Wilcox. Fernandes, who had been dropped for the Bournemouth game after voicing concerns over Carrick's tactics, later returned as captain for the Chelsea fixture.

Injuries compounded the chaos. Sesko, Amad Diallo, Luke Shaw, and Marcus Rashford were all unavailable at different points, forcing Carrick to field five different players at left-back across the campaign. The coaching staff, so highly regarded in spring, could find no consistent solution.

Recruitment questions loom large

The recruitment picture did little to help. A pursuit of Carlos Baleba from Brighton dragged on until 25 August, when the £70 million deal was finally completed — only for a pre-existing ankle injury to delay his debut until 10 October. After just five starts, Baleba has since been sidelined with a hamstring problem.

Youri Tielemans arrived from Aston Villa for £35 million and Andrey Santos joined from Chelsea in a deal that could reach £50 million. The midfield-heavy approach drew criticism from those close to the squad, who questioned why resources were concentrated in central areas when the natural consequence was shifting Fernandes away from the deeper-lying role that had defined his best performances.

A final evening at Old Trafford

Carrick's last match in charge ended in a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa. With United 4-2 down and Old Trafford resigned to defeat, Patrick Dorgu equalised in stoppage time and Carrick raised an arm in celebration. He then walked the perimeter of the pitch, acknowledging supporters who sang his name — positioning himself among his players to shield them from the crowd's frustration, just as he had done in previous weeks.

Chief executive Omar Berrada and Wilcox watched Dorgu's equaliser from the directors' box before travelling to Monaco within days to inform minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe that a change was necessary. For the third successive season, Manchester United will search for a new head coach mid-campaign.