Rio Ferdinand reacts to Man Utd’s statement on Carrick sacking

Rio Ferdinand has blasted Manchester United over the statement released to confirm the sacking of Michael Carrick.

After a long week of waiting, Manchester United finally made it official that Michael Carrick has been relieved of his duties as head coach, with a permanent successor now awaited.

United released an emotionless statement to confirm Carrick’s sacking, which Rio Ferdinand has taken real issue with.

Rio Ferdinand slams Manchester United statement sacking Michael Carrick

Ferdinand has demanded Ineos speak to fans this week amid the uncertainty around Carrick and Mauricio Pochettino. But after United released the statement, he hasn’t been appeased.

Reacting to the statement United published, Ferdinand demanded more. He tweeted, “Man United statement like Chat GPT… I wanna hear a voice!”

Before adding, “I want to see a face to this…”

Man United statement like Chat GPT… I wanna hear a voice!

— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5)

November 12, 2026

Ferdinand has a point; the board has hidden from any scrutiny, isn’t communicating with fans, and has left this situation running for weeks, failing to sack Carrick before the entire world already knew.

The board was unpopular before this whole situation, but now their unprofessional handling of this sacking has only worsened the view of Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada.

The fact that the sacking has been played out through the media instead of privately is disgusting, and the board needs to go too. Horrid treatment of a club legend.

Rio Ferdinand’s honest reaction to Michael Carrick sacking

Ferdinand also reacted on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, explaining he was disappointed by the decision to sack Carrick, believing he may have managed to turn it around.

“Personally, I’m disappointed. I’ve got to be honest with you, because I think we have to add context to this, right? The results have been really bad and the performances have been really bad this season, right? That’s a huge contrast to last season.

“Last season, he was the most winningest manager when he came in. From the day he signed to the end of the season, he won more matches than any other manager, won more points than any other manager, okay? Got Manchester United to third in the league, qualified for the Champions League. We never thought that was going to be possible before he came in, when he was under Ruben Amorim, okay?

“So he did ever so well last year. Everyone was happy, right? So he gets the job permanently in August, and you think, okay, let’s see how this goes.

“It doesn’t start well at all. It goes from bad to worse from the first day at Hull, when we lose against a promoted team, right? But my problem with it is that he’d done so well up to then. This was his first bump in the road. This was his first moment where things weren’t going to plan. How do you not let him ride this out and let him see how it goes?

“It’s not like we’ve been sitting there and we’ve been halfway through a season. It’s a few games at the start of the season, and it’s like, right, that’s it, we’ve had enough. This is the first moment. He’d done a great job, and this isn’t because he’s a personal friend. He’s someone I called a friend before even a teammate.

“But I just said the same with Ruben Amorim. I said the same with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: time. I like to give guys time. I just think he could have been given more time to try and rectify what has been going on, because I’m not going to sit here and make excuses for him. It hasn’t been good enough, okay? He hasn’t got the results that are needed. This is a results-driven game. We said that on the reaction show yesterday. If you don’t win games, you come under scrutiny and pressure, right?

“But, yeah, I just think he could have been given a bit more time.”

While he may have, the unfortunate fact is that United are in the relegation zone and therefore he can’t have any complaints. But the handling of it is what leaves a sour taste.