Michael Carrick’s Man Utd reign spiralling even quicker than usual with calamitous calls – but Wilcox has to go as well

AS A frazzled Michael Carrick, hunched over, stared at his interrogators at 11pm last night it was impossible not to wonder if this was the last time he would attend a press conference at Old Trafford. It is spiralling quicker than usual at Manchester United. Carrick looked downbeat and grey and anyone with an ounce of humanity would have to sympathise. Manchester United boss Michael Carrick looked downbeat after his side’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton Credit: Getty Carrick’s reign looks to be spiralling already after making a series of calamitous calls Credit: Alamy This crisis is on him. United won 12 and lost only two from 17 games under Carrick last season. It is two wins and three defeats from six already this season. Carrick is making consistently calamitous calls. He thought Ayden Heaven was good enough to start the Premier League season and played Patrick Dorgu on the left wing ahead of Matheus Cunha at Hull. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! He has persisted with Cunha up front and hooked Marcus Rashford with United ahead at Everton. He made unenforced defensive substitutions before Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ equaliser, failed to send on Benjamin Sesko sooner against Manchester City and made eight changes against Brighton. Brighton do a number on United every season. United went out of both domestic cup competitions at the first hurdle last term. They have won two trophies in nine years. Brighton was not the tie for eight changes, never mind the inclusion of a 15-year-old in the dugout. Where the changes occurred was particularly troubling. Karl Darlow must train like a demon as he did not appear to know how to kick a ball on Wednesday night. Leny Yoro and Heaven as a defensive duo asked for trouble and United got it. United’s defence has been porous in every game this season so it was senseless to start their two rawest defenders together. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Worse yet, they shielded a goalie who seemed to be stuck in cement and without a defensive midfielder to keep vigil. This is where we switch focus onto director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada. As flawed as United’s transfer window was, they ended it with a stronger squad. Not strong enough, though. Half of United’s summer signings were injured at the time that they signed. It had already cost them. Darlow, 35, missed the entirety of pre-season, so he was undercooked. That does not account for his unforgivable misjudgement for the opening Brighton goal or his jittery keeping in general, but it is relevant. Bizarrely, United have repeatedly signed second-choice goalkeepers (Darlow, Altay Bayindir and Martin Dubravka) who are not better than third-choice Tom Heaton. Carlos Baleba, the headline £70million signing, will not debut until October 10, at the earliest. By then, he may have a new head coach. If Carrick does depart this season, director of football Jason Wilcox should go with him Credit: Alamy Wilcox appointed Carrick on a permanent deal but he was sold short in the transfer market Credit: Getty Baleba is 22, had an iffy season at Brighton and is now at the most scrutinised sporting institution on the planet. United’s form will only pile on the pressure and the club has ground down more established and better players than Baleba. United did Chelsea a favour by taking Andrey Santos, farmed out on loan four times, off their hands in a £50m deal. Santos has not started a league match since the Hull horror show and looks like the Chelsea squad player he was. Youri Tielemans, a good player, was an opportunistic deal but deploying two technicians in front of the back four is not working. The midfield rebuild was not balanced enough. Carrick looks beaten and it already feels like he has gone past the point of no return. His two-year contract also suggested United were railroaded into appointing him. Better coaches were attainable. Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso, to give two relevant examples. It was understandable that United upgraded Carrick’s job title but they squandered the momentum that he had sustained over four stable months. Carrick could be heading towards the point of no return at Old Trafford Credit: PA He was sold short in the window with no defensive signing. Lewis Hall might not have made much difference to United’s malaise, but he would not have been as positionally ill-disciplined as Dorgu was for Everton and City’s decisive goals. If Carrick has to go, then Wilcox should, too. The United head coach does not call the shots on recruitment, so there is greater accountability for the DoF. Wilcox has “the best eyes in football”, according to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. They did not look far to identify Liam Delap as the principal striker target last year. Delap dodged United and dodged a bullet. Sesko was dearer but better. Wilcox got lucky. Lest we forget Wilcox interviewed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Carrick’s rival for the job in January. Cursory research would have concluded that Solskjaer is more of a manager than a coach. His only role since his sacking by United in November 2021 was an eight-month stint at Besiktas. Wilcox is said to have ‘the best eyes in football’ but United had a poor transfer window Credit: Alamy United have a big decision to make over the manager’s hotseat in the coming weeks Credit: PA Colleagues who spoke to Wilcox at City say they “couldn’t get him to shut up”. At United, he has done no external media. The first time Wilcox stuck his head above the parapet was after United won three successive league games for the first time in 20 months last October. He is there on Berrada’s recommendation. Berrada has come under the cosh over the ticket-touting process and his approval ratings are plummeting. “This summer, energy should have been focused on strengthening the team rather than alienating the support,” a long-time supporter wrote. Whatever happens at Fulham on Sunday, United need to be more communicative during the three-week hiatus. They owe it to the supporters after the ticket-touting fiasco, the frugal transfer window and damaging results. They also need to decide who occupies the seat in that press conference room in three weeks. Comment now