As Manchester United weigh up the future of manager Michael Carrick, a number of those under consideration are reported to have major concerns about the atmosphere inside the dressing room.
Carrick will remain in charge for Sunday’s meeting with Bournemouth but will be well aware that extending their seven-game winless run could force United into making a tough decision on his future. The Red Devils have won just twice all season—besting newly promoted Ipswich Town in August and defeating Sabah of Azerbaijan last month.
A handful of big names have already been touted as possible replacements, but The Telegraph state several of those in United’s sights have significant concerns about the toxicity of the dressing room.
Club legend Wayne Rooney feared the dressing room would be “ripped apart” by Lisandro Martínez’s recent criticism of technical director Jason Wilcox and Bruno Fernandes’s dim assessment of Carrick’s tactics.
Bringing the dressing room back in line is seen as a priority for more than one of United’s potential candidates, who believe the squad is “out of control” and full of players who “talk too much.”
There are just two ways to fix that. United could hire a firm hand capable of drilling their high standards into the squad, or the players found to be contributing to the issues would have to be sold. Neither is a guaranteed route to success.
Player Power Remains Ongoing Issue at Old Trafford
The need to quieten the noise coming out of the Old Trafford dressing room has plagued more managers than just Carrick.
It was back in 2022 that Ralf Rangnick, operating as interim manager following the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, claimed the club needed “open heart surgery.” He pointed to a need for “strong leadership,” alongside players with the right attitude and a solid plan from those in the boardroom as well.
Erik ten Hag joined that summer and quickly kicked things off by feuding with Cristiano Ronaldo, recently claiming the Portugal international’s poor work rate was letting the team down. A brief upturn in fortunes soon faded and Ruben Amorim was next up to face the challenge in 2024.
While results were miserable during Amorim’s tenure, the current AC Milan boss did plenty of work when it came to stabilizing the dressing room. He took issue with both Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho’s performances in training and spoke openly about the long-term nature of his project, only for the team’s on-field showings to see him fired in early 2026.
By turning to Carrick as Amorim’s replacement, United hoped that his status as a club legend could be the secret to success, and that did appear to be the case during an electric end to last season, but things took a brutal downward turn this year as the same issues resurfaced for United.
Whoever ends this season in the Old Trafford dugout will have some tough decisions to make, particularly when it comes to contracts. Alongside Martínez and Fernandes, both Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are in the final year of their respective contracts, with the latter the only player whose deal does not include a 12-month extension clause.
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