Manchester United fans have identified the problem Carrick cannot solve, they made it clear

There are a lot of things Michael Carrick could have solved at Man Utd that were his own doing, but the one he couldn’t was made clear by the supporters vs Bournemouth.

From some baffling team selections to an indefensible tactical approach in many games, Michael Carrick has clearly been found out this season.

The inevitable sacking will be justified, even though he’s just one part of a bigger problem for Man Utd to solve, as most fans recognise.

The problem he can’t solve was identified by Man Utd fans against Bournemouth, and that leaves everyone in a tricky position.

Michael Carrick is the latest victim of systemic dysfunction

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Man Utd have hired the Chosen One, the tactical mastermind, the serial winner, the former player, the exciting upstart, the hipster tactician, and now Carrick again.

Those are pretty much all the templates found in head coaches, and all of them failed at Old Trafford.

The reasons might be different for each. The job was too big for David Moyes, Louis van Gaal had a turgid style of football, Jose Mourinho always implodes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s credentials weren’t elite, Erik ten Hag’s man management wasn’t good, and Ruben Amorim was found wanting for results.

However, that does not change the fact that these were all very capable coaches who should have done much better than they did at this club.

Carrick, with questions over his ability, is the latest to get sacked, but he’s just the latest victim of a systemic dysfunction at this club.

The problem lies in recruitment, where billions have been spent under a scattergun regime, and now the other extreme has come in, where penny-pinching has left the squad threadbare.

The new manager might get a bounce in the same way Carrick did, but the moment the leap to elite status beckons, they will have their legs cut out from underneath them.

Where next for Man Utd?

In the immediate future, it’s easy to sack Carrick and blame the players for the toxic culture at Carrington, but this is the same group which fought for Ruben Amorim until the very end.

Even Ten Hag said he felt the players’ support until his final game, so the toxic culture clearly hasn’t returned out of nowhere.

The players felt the board betray them by showing a lack of ambition in the summer, and mentally checked out. Carrick is just a symptom of the problem, not the cause of it.

Carrick losing his job doesn’t solve the billion-pound debt on the club, and it doesn’t absolve the board from hiring him in the first place.

Five managers have managed a Man Utd game since Ineos took over, a pattern that should put the spotlight squarely on people tasked with hiring those managers.

Otherwise, United are doomed to repeat this cycle for eternity, and soon enough, they will be a mid-table club, instead of underperforming as an elite club.