Manchester United's leadership have faced sharp criticism over the delay in deciding Michael Carrick's future. Football365 says the club risk relegation from the Premier League while their leaders continue to postpone necessary changes.
United went into the international break in the relegation zone, having won just one of their 10 league matches. The last time the team were in such a position was around 40 years ago, when Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Ron Atkinson.
Sporting director Jason Wilcox came in for particularly strong criticism. The former Manchester City academy chief was given too much influence over the club's decisions but has failed to deal with the crisis, according to Football365.
Since the previous international break, United have conceded 19 goals, lost to Atletico, Como, Bournemouth and Chelsea, and drawn with Tottenham, Leeds and Aston Villa. The only bright result was a win over Roma.
Football365 stresses, however, that sacking Carrick would not solve all the problems. The author places the main responsibility for the situation on the club's owners — the Glazer family and INEOS — as well as the leadership who assembled an unbalanced squad.
The appointment of Unai Emery or Antonio Conte also appears unlikely. The United leadership are not ready for difficult negotiations or to work with managers who would demand significant authority.
If the club continue to delay decisions and do not strengthen the squad in January, the threat of relegation to the Championship could become very real.
