Owen delivers verdict on Man Utd sacking Carrick as Conte ‘agreement’ nears

Michael Owen has delivered his verdict on whether Manchester United should sack Michael Carrick amid claims Antonio Conte is close to ‘reaching an agreement’ with the Red Devils.

Carrick, 45, is in a world of trouble right now. The United boss resembles a dead man walking, with the club’s decision to hire the inexperienced boss on the back of a pressure-free caretaker spell already backfiring.

Man Utd haven’t kept a clean sheet against an English opponent this season. They’re already out of the League Cup, and boast just one win in the league.

Internal concerns over Man Utd players not doing the basics under Carrick, like running and closing down spaces, were highlighted by The Athletic in September.

And according to reports out of Italy on Monday, Antonio Conte is closing in on replacing Carrick at Old Trafford.

Calciomercato claimed Man Utd are seriously considering sacking Carrick, while TuttoMercatoWeb declared Conte is ‘reaching an agreement’ with the Red Devils.

The links to Conte come hot on the heels of the 57-year-old insisting over the international break that he wishes to manage a historic club who are down on their luck.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out he was talking about Man Utd, and Fabrizio Romano, when talking about United specifically, subsequently declared Conte is ready to jump back into management right now.

For the time being, Carrick is still the United boss, and one figure within the industry who believes no change should be made is former United striker, Michael Owen.

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Michael Carrick deserves more time – Michael Owen

The 2001 Ballon d’Or winner told Goal: “I was looking at the next set of fixtures for Manchester United and they’re bloody difficult. A lot of away games.

“The next away game in the Premier League is Leeds, and Leeds are playing really well. Obviously we all know about their rivalry. That’s going to be some atmosphere. They’ll smell blood. There’s an opportunity there to win at Elland Road.

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“I’m a big Carrick fan. I thought he should have been given the job. I understand that there’s pressure surrounding the job. Absolutely. But how well he did last season, I think he absolutely should be given time.

“And if you look at it, they were massively unlucky against Everton. They scored with one of the goals of the season, the last kick of the game. They were robbed out of points by VAR in the Manchester derby. They’ve been really unlucky, in my opinion, to not have a few extra points.

“The performance wasn’t great against Spurs, granted, but I do like the team. I think it’s a lot better team now than it has been in the last few years. And I think that they’ve got the potential to have a decent enough season.

“There’s people trying to put pressure, but I do think he deserves a fair bit more time for what he’s done so far.”

Before the trip to Leeds next weekend, Man Utd face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Diego Simeone’s side enter the contest having won four in a row in LaLiga – including beating Real Madrid – via an aggregate scoreline of 11-2.

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