Gary Neville issues Michael Carrick verdict with Manchester United sack decision imminent

Carrick faces another international window filled with uncertainty after becoming the first Man Utd manager in 40 years to guide the club into the top-flight relegation zone.

Man Utd sit 18th with eight points after 10 matches, one point behind Coventry City, after a disjointed and rudderless performance at Old Trafford which somehow ended with a share of the spoils.

Alysson put Villa ahead after two minutes before Nicolas Jackson added a second two minutes later. However, Man Utd appeared to gain momentum when Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot, followed by Youri Tielemans levelling shortly before the break.

Man Utd again conceded twice in quick succession early in the second half to goals from John McGinn and Leon Goretzka. Joshua Zirkzee then offered the hosts a lifeline in stoppage time, before substitute Patrick Dorgu headed in the equaliser in the 96th minute.

Despite the late equaliser, Carrick remains on the brink. But Neville believes yet more change is inevitable but it is those further up the Man Utd food chain who should be at risk of the sack.

Gary Neville on NBC Sports

Sky Sports

"Michael Carrick did that last season - so you can paper over the cracks and get a new manager bounce,” Neville told NBC Sports. "When the new manager comes in, everybody's happy for a couple of months and all of a sudden, six months later, it happens again.

"You can keep changing the manager and thinking that's going to be the answer. But this has been proven now over eight managers in 12 years, that's not the answer.

"Michael could leave, Michael might stay, we don't know, the ownership don't have a clue what to do.

"It's rinse and repeat. Amorim, Ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Carrick, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, Ralf Rangnick - some of them are world class managers who have had success, there are a lot of promising young managers there, ex players who know the club as well.

"None of it has worked because if you recruit badly, if you've got poor performance department, poor recruitment department, you've not got leadership that is strong right through the spine of the football club you will fail.

“Every organisation in the world will fail if you've not got an aligned leadership from top to bottom - your board and your ownership right the way through to the person who is stood on the pitch trying to play football.

"There are real issues within that football club, you've got people doing those jobs who have never done those jobs before in senior positions."