Man Utd mired in poor run as managerial turnover and internal unrest deepen
Manchester United, who are without a win in seven games in all competitions, saw manager Michael Carrick raise his hands in apology to supporters after a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como on 2026-10-23. The result and the public reaction fuelled questions about whether the club has become unmanageable after a decade-plus of managerial churn since Sir Alex Ferguson's 2013 departure.
Ferguson left in 2013 after 26 years in charge and 38 trophies, and United have employed seven full-time managers since then: David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick. There have also been interim spells for Ryan Giggs, Ralf Rangnick, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Darren Fletcher. The club recorded moments of success under Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ten Hag, but each of those full-time appointments ultimately ended in dismissal.
Carrick's gesture to supporters drew an obvious comparison with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who raised his hands to fans after a 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021 that preceded his dismissal; Carrick has followed a similar arc after his temporary charge. United's run of form — seven matches without a win across all competitions — has compounded that sense of déjà vu around the managerial position.
Unrest inside the squad has become visible: defender Lisandro Martinez publicly took aim at director of football Jason Wilcox after the Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid, while captain Bruno Fernandes questioned the tactics used in Como. Those incidents have been cited in reporting as examples of dissent in the dressing room.
United's recruitment record since Ferguson has been repeatedly examined: Moyes was an ill-starred appointment, Van Gaal and Mourinho were experienced operators brought in for immediate impact, Solskjaer was promoted following a successful interim spell despite limited managerial experience, Ten Hag arrived after leading Ajax to a Champions League semi-final, and Amorim was pursued from Sporting as a highly rated young coach. Each of those full-time managers was subsequently sacked.
Recent high-profile upheavals have added to the instability. Ten Hag was reportedly set to be sacked before United's FA Cup final win against Manchester City, and that Wembley victory preceded a contract extension and a £200m transfer budget before he was sacked six months later, with a payoff of more than £10m. Sporting director Dan Ashworth arrived in July 2024 and left five months later after a behind-the-scenes disagreement, having spent as long on gardening leave waiting to join from Newcastle United as he did in post at Manchester United. Amorim lasted 14 months, left after a hostile meeting with Wilcox and a parting blast, and his “obsession with a 3-4-3 system had already persuaded Liverpool to look at Arne Slot to succeed Klopp,” according to reporting.
Ownership and financial decisions have been part of the scrutiny. Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was pictured in a heated discussion with director of football Jason Wilcox, with chief executive Omar Berrada between them, at Wolves in December 2025. Supporters have mounted regular protests against the Glazer family since their 2005 takeover; some fans turned on Ratcliffe after his part-ownership and business partnership with the Glazers. Ratcliffe has suggested he leaves big footballing decisions to others, such as Wilcox and Berrada, while staff departures followed what has been described as savage cost-cutting under his part-ownership. A summer ticket-touting investigation saw United admit they underestimated the number of fans who shared account details, tone down some threats around season-ticket confiscation and defend the investigation. Financial figures published in September showed overall debt at £1bn, record revenue of £678m, a £23m operating profit despite not playing in Europe for the first time in a decade (a reversal from a £113m loss in 2023-24), and confirmation of £64m spent buying land for a new stadium; Berrada said the club remained on track to build a projected 100,000-capacity stadium at an estimated cost of more than £2bn.
Carrick remains the manager on the touchline for now, but reporting states he is “front of house and, on current evidence, will pay the price” for United's failings. The club faces the prospect of further churn and instability as the teams they regard as competitors risk pulling away.