Michael Carrick's Man Utd future, Howe and Conte's chances of replacing him: What we're hearing New York Times (Online) Laurie Whitwell After the chaos of Como came the calm of Carrington. Michael Carrick's Manchester United tenure was thrown firmly into the spotlight at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, both by the performance and a sharp post-match interview from Bruno Fernandes . United's captain pointed towards instructions from Carrick and his staff as a reason for the weak display, in doing so cranking up the pressure on the man picking the team. Carrick answered three questions on his future as the atmosphere turned turbulent. United's training ground was a picture of serenity on Thursday, although that was mostly because the players and staff were given a day off after arriving back at 1am from Italy. There were, though, no crisis summits as such. Executives were elsewhere too, although the urgency of the situation is clear and they were fielding calls. The Athletic has spoken to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation in compiling this article. They all spoke under the condition of anonymity to protect relationships. The call United have made in the immediate term is that Carrick will continue as head coach. He will face the media again on Friday at 1.30pm local time, before taking charge of the club's Premier League game against Bournemouth on Sunday. But nobody is making any predictions beyond that point. Director of football Jason Wilcox has a good relationship with Carrick. Wilcox is said to understand the complications of leading the team after a summer window where signings were limited due to budgets set by the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with injuries also having an impact in recent weeks. United's football leadership wants to avoid having to make a third mid-season change in the dugout in three years since Ratcliffe's investment in December 2023. But Ratcliffe has made interventions on various matters at United in different moments, and his influence on this latest issue cannot be discounted. Flipping the prevailing mood, some close to the club would like Carrick to be backed firmly to imbue him with greater authority amid a creeping sense of squad disconnect. They view the current problems as owing a large degree to the players, who are making basic errors on the pitch. They believe sending a message of stability could break the cycle of slipping standards when the going gets tough. People close to the team have seen this story before, and feel players shrink when the scale of the task at United is laid bare. A lack of confidence is said to be an issue at present. But for all that Carrick would want latitude to think long-term, in reality we are now at a stage where prospective candidates have to be given proper consideration. People with knowledge say United, inevitably, are privately weighing up the options. For some at the club, Eddie Howe has the most compelling case. He got Newcastle United into the Champions League twice and ended the club's 56-year wait for silverware by lifting the Carabao Cup in 2025. He stepped down in July after five years at Newcastle to take a break, but Old Trafford is expected to hold great appeal. There would be a major irony should Howe arrive, given he was one of the candidates recommended by Dan Ashworth, then United's sporting director, amid the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Ratcliffe preferred Ruben Amorim and Ashworth left a month later. Julian Nagelsmann has been a consistent name spoken of at United. Christopher Vivell, United's director of recruitment, likes the former Germany manager. He has expressed a different perspective from Wilcox at times, but ultimately Wilcox is the senior member of the hierarchy. People with knowledge of Antonio Conte's outlook say he is interested in taking charge but would want reassurances about his authority before agreeing. He is believed to feel a firm grip is needed to govern players who must take greater responsibility for results. Several people close to United would be stunned if they went down the Conte route, given his hardline style and potential for more combustible episodes between the directors' box and the dugout. Unai Emery is highly regarded at United, but the control he would want is at odds with the structure put in place since Ratcliffe took the reins. Fabian Hurzeler is widely viewed as the outstanding Premier League coach at present, but Brighton sources are confident the 33-year-old will stay. In May, he signed a new contract to 2029, which is believed to make him an expensive acquisition, and he is enjoying life on the south coast. Michael Sansoni, United's director of data & AI, is involved in running the numbers. He is said to be growing in influence and has a good connection with Ratcliffe. Getting to the bottom of United's pressing system would be a useful area to fix. Fernandes and Carrick were probably both each right in their own ways, but the Portuguese going public in the manner he did went down badly with some of his team-mates and coaching staff. Carrick has known Fernandes since he was a coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and is capable of having a robust conversation with the player to clear the air. Carrick also had spiky dialogue with Matheus Cunha during the first-half at Como, before substituting him at half-time. Cunha allowed Nico Paz to run off him for the opening goal in the third minute. One source close to the dressing room said: “This is also on the shoulders of players, to do it better even without the coach to say so. They need the fire.” They felt Carrick now needs to make a big call to jolt the team into action. Cesc Fabregas was privately surprised at how comfortably his Como players outperformed United. Some feel that is down to a combination of player profile and tactics, rather than fitness. Others believe United need to get better availability, with eight first-teamers currently out injured. Two wins from 11 is awful form, the only small mercy being that the Como loss was Carrick's first big beating since taking over in January. Another loss of any scale to Bournemouth on Sunday would inevitably see United stepping up conversations regarding replacements for Carrick in a meaningful way.