The manager Jamie Carragher wants at Manchester United has already decided he is staying at Aston Villa.
With Michael Carrick fighting to keep his job after a home thrashing by Bournemouth, Carragher went on Sky Sports and backed Unai Emery as United’s answer, calling him the best manager in the Premier League and urging the club’s INEOS-led football operation to make the change immediately.
“I think Emery is the best manager in the Premier League. But I’ve got this thing with him,” Carragher said.
The caveat was Villa, not the man. Carragher acknowledged Emery’s Europa League pedigree but argued that a manager with his trophy record should be chasing the Champions League at a club large enough to win one.
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“He wants to win the Champions League. He’s not going to do that at Aston Villa,” Carragher added.
Emery, 54, has heard the pitch before. Sky Sports reported on 25 October that he remains committed to the project at Aston Villa, with follow-up reporting describing a manager with no plans to leave for the task of rebuilding United.
Villa roots run deeper than a job offer
The reasons sit in the Villa boardroom, not in Manchester. Emery’s working relationship with Villa co-chairman Nassef Sawiris is one of the closest manager-owner pairings in English football, and it extends beyond Villa Park.
Emery owns 75% of the Spanish club Real Union, with the remaining stake held by Sawiris and other partners from Villa’s V Sports ownership group, according to reporting on the Spaniard’s links to the Villa hierarchy. Those commercial and sporting ties are the structural reason reports have cast his stance as effectively settled.
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Carrick’s job on the line
Carrick remains Manchester United head coach for now, but only just. Appointed on a two-year contract in May after his caretaker spell at Old Trafford, the former United captain has seen his side win two of their twelve matches in all competitions and slip to 16th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.
Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, in which captain Bruno Fernandes was left on the bench throughout, pushed the pressure to breaking point.
“I totally understand the situation. I’m not expecting anything in particular, to be honest,” Carrick told reporters when asked whether he expected to be sacked.
INEOS has not announced any decision on Carrick’s position.
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