Manchester United manager Michael Carrick left the Old Trafford pitch on Sunday to the sound of his name being sung by the adoring home support, but he may never lead the team onto the field again.
uncertain
he → leave → field
His players followed him and the message delivered to them and the club captain Bruno Fernandes, who was an unused substitute, was quite different.
asserted
who → follow → them
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asserted
chief → say → Infantino
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The 3-0 thumping by Bournemouth was a result that marked a 40-year low for the crisis club and plunged it to new depths – and the fans were determined to let United’s owners and playing staff know it.
asserted
owners → set → it
The opening seven league matches marked United’s worst start since 1986.
asserted
matches → mark → 1986
The latest defeat, their sixth of the season, leaves the club just a point above the relegation zone and without a win in eight matches in all competitions.
asserted
defeat → leave → competitions
What has happened between Fernandes and Carrick?
asserted
What → happen → Fernandes
Fernandes, the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year last season, was left among the substitutes on Sunday as a result of criticising Carrick after Wednesday’s 4-1 humiliation at Como in the UEFA Champions League.
asserted
Fernandes → leave → League
The Portuguese player has been the Red Devils’ darling since he arrived in 2020, and seemed to have sealed his place as a club legend in a time of darkness with his accolade achieved on the back of United’s third-place finish, which they have only twice bettered in 13 years.
asserted
they → arrive → years
The award came as a result of his record number of assists in a Premier League season – all the more impressive in a side that lacked a spark anywhere else on the pitch.
asserted
that → come → pitch
The upturn in fortunes under Carrick’s interim position last term, when he replaced Ruben Amorim in January, resulted in his full-time appointment in the summer.
asserted
he → replace → summer
A tenure that may now have run its course, with him and United’s best player seemingly at loggerheads.
uncertain
him → run → loggerheads
How have fans reacted to the Premier League giant’s fall?
asserted
fans → react → fall
Boos for anyone associated with the home side at Old Trafford were relatively unheard of until the last two seasons.
asserted
Boos → associate → seasons
Now the boss receiving the adulation on exiting one of world football’s greatest stages – the Theatre of Dreams – may be the one on whom the curtain is being pulled.
uncertain
curtain → receive → whom
Fernandes is no villain in this piece, but United’s fans have delivered a clear message directly to the heart of the dressing room – sending it via the player who could do no wrong in the eyes of the supporters will leave the ears of every member of the squad ringing.
uncertain
who → deliver → squad
Outplayed is one thing, but being outrun and outfought is another.
asserted
outrun → outrun → ?
They have known difficult days – their most successful manager Sir Alex Ferguson was on the verge of the sack in 1990 before winning the FA Cup and beginning one of the greatest runs of trophy-laden eras in football.
asserted
manager → know → football
Their wait for a league title stretched from 1967 – and the Holy Trinity of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law – to 1994, when Ferguson’s inspired signing of Eric Cantona ignited glory days even the biggest club in the world at the time had never seen.
asserted
club → stretch → time
Now, United are on the edge of a precipice – quite literally if the gap to the drop zone is even to be realistically contemplated.
asserted
gap → contemplate → zone
Perhaps United’s cross-town rivals City won’t be the only Manchester club facing relegation this season.
asserted
City → face → relegation
That is demise no one is truly considering yet.
asserted
one → consider → ?
They are, however, at a crossroads – and the divide between Carrick and Fernandes – his captain, who criticised the tactics that stopped United pressing their Italian opponents in midweek, is likely to see the axe fall on the manager rather than a valuable asset.
asserted
axe → criticise → manager
“Manchester United need to make the change tonight (Sunday),” former England team-mate of Carrick, Jamie Carragher, told British broadcaster Sky Sports when asked if a sacking was needed.
asserted
sacking → need → Sports
“The fans have taken the side of the manager, which is not about him being the manager, it’s about him being a huge figure in United’s history – and those players have done nothing compared to teams of the past.
asserted
players → take → past
“So Carrick is always going to win that fight – and rightly so – with Fernandes, no matter how talented a player he is.
asserted
he → go → Fernandes
“But also United – one of the biggest clubs in the world – are 16th in the table right now and that can’t happen – it can’t continue and Carrick needs to be relieved of his duties.
asserted
Carrick → happen → duties
“He wants to be sacked.
asserted
He → want → ?
It’s become untenable.
asserted
It → become → ?
He doesn’t want to be sat in the dugout with those players.
asserted
He → want → players
It’s a rancid dressing room.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
He wants to be put out of his misery.”
asserted
He → want → misery
Gary Neville, former Manchester United defender and team-mate of Carrick’s for club and country, added: “Carrick is popular, but the owners, the sporting department and the players are not.
“
asserted
owners → add → club
They will probably make a decision that will disgust United fans, but it is probably necessary.
asserted
it → make → fans
What has Carrick said amid rumours of the sack?
asserted
Carrick → say → sack
The final word of the day belongs to the man in the middle of a power battle that has seen him win the popular vote, but one that is unlikely to sway the United hierarchy.
asserted
that → belong → hierarchy
“I take the responsibility,” Carrick said in the post-match news conference.
asserted
Carrick → take → conference
“I totally understand the situation, I’m not expecting anything, I’m carrying on as normal and I love this place.”
asserted
I → understand → place
In something of a reference to dropping the club captain and the response he received from the crowd at the end, Carrick continued: “I always do what I feel is going to be the best for the club, whatever decision is made.
asserted
decision → drop → club
“I’ve tried to do everything I can to not be in this position and for a number of reasons, whatever they are, we’ve not been able to stop that happening to the position we’re in.
asserted
we → try → position
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
