Michael Carrick has not been given any guarantees over his future beyond Sunday’s game against Aston Villa at Old Trafford as Manchester United dropped into the relegation zone.
United bosses handed Carrick more time to turn the club’s season around following the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth a fortnight ago amid speculation he could be replaced by Eddie Howe or Julian Nagelsmann.
In the two games since then, Carrick’s side have lost at Chelsea and staged a rousing comeback over Roma in the Champions League to secure a first win in 10 games.
United slipped into the bottom three after Nottingham Forest beat Manchester City on Saturday, and could be in last place by the time they kick off against Villa depending on the outcome of other games involving Sunderland and Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The situation could leave Carrick’s position under threat during the two-week international break. Asked if he has been told outright that he will be in charge next week, the United boss replied: ‘No. Just carry on as absolute normal.
‘Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I’m really looking forward to the next game, playing at home on the back of the other night.
Michael Carrick revealed that club chiefs have not told him if he’ll be in charge next week
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left), Omar Berrada (centre) and Jason Wilcox (right) have not informed their manager about their plans for the international break
‘The supporters are hopefully looking forward to coming energised and feeling good about what they might see, and we’ve got to repay that.’
Carrick is preparing for a normal international break, and doesn’t have any plans to spend more time with his family after a turbulent period at Old Trafford.
‘Not really different to normal. Genuinely not,’ he added. ‘I think international breaks are always a time to re-energise and freshen up. Some of the players that go away to internationals get freshened up in a different environment, but I don’t really need it. I’m fine as I am.
‘We’ll certainly train next week and maybe have the weekend off. We’ll see how that develops, who’s left behind, who’s with us and what they need.’
Carrick insisted that he and Bruno Fernandes have put any issues behind them after the United captain criticised his tactics in the Champions League defeat to Como last month.
After he led United’s fightback against Roma in midweek by converting a twice taken penalty, Fernandes confirmed that Carrick’s decision to drop him for the Bournemouth game was due to a loss of form, and disputed that the two men had a clear-the-air meeting over his comments.
But Carrick said: ‘There are always conversations, bits going on; acknowledging certain things of when things are going well, what we need to improve on as a group.
‘Sometimes it’s individually, sometimes it’s group. We always have discussions. What’s actually said in that discussion, I’ll keep that to myself.
‘But I think it’s pretty clear we’ve moved in a good direction, and Bruno’s commitment is undoubted for me (in terms) of what he brings to this team and this club.
‘He showed that again this week by his actions, the way he’s played and how he dealt with even retaking the penalty and the frame of mind he was in for that. I think that tells you everything. Bruno’s as good as ever.’
