Manchester United sacked Michael Carrick on Thursday, November 12, with the club 18th in the Premier League after one win in 10 matches and the worst start to a season in 40 years. The full story of the sacking, the Monaco summit that ratified it and the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa that preceded it is in the original breaking report.
On Friday, November 13, the vacancy stopped being a vacancy. United confirmed the successor, Carrick answered with a farewell of his own, and the squad he left behind said its goodbyes in public, all before the new man had taken a single training session.
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Mauricio Pochettino Manchester United Appointment Confirmed
United announced on Friday that Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the men’s head coach from November 18, with an agreement reached with the U.S. Soccer Federation to release Pochettino and his staff after their duties with the United States men’s national team. The deal is a two-and-a-half-year contract running to the summer of 2029, and Pochettino becomes the club’s eighth permanent head coach since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The timing is built around the international break. Pochettino stays with the USA for the two Concacaf Nations League matches against Haiti on November 14 and November 17, then travels to Manchester, with his first match in charge away to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, November 22. The Press Association reporting carried by the Glasgow Times adds two details that frame the hire: the appointment had the unanimous endorsement of the club leadership and ownership, and Pochettino was the only coach United spoke to directly as a successor to Carrick. His backroom staff appointments will be confirmed in the coming days.
Pochettino spoke about the move on Friday at the USA training camp in Fayetteville, Georgia, in a press conference carried here by Sky Sports News:
An Emotional Farewell Before The United Job Starts
The press conference was not a victory lap. The Associated Press reported that Pochettino choked up while sitting between USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone and chief executive JT Batson, calling it one of the most difficult decisions of his career. He had signed a new USA contract in August, after leading the team to the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup on home soil, and he leaves with a record of 21 wins in 35 matches.
They know that there is not too many opportunities that can happen in your career like a side of Manchester United and, of course, when that arrives, it is difficult to turn down.
Pochettino said the decision was, in one part, a very sad one, and in another the professional next step to make dreams come true. His own farewell words to the federation were carried in the announcement coverage: the opportunity to represent the USA crest was one of the greatest honours of his career. Batson, for his part, said Pochettino and his staff raised standards and strengthened the culture, and US Soccer’s search for his permanent successor now begins, with the Press Association reporting that former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is top of the federation’s wanted list.
Carrick Answers, And The Squad Says Goodbye
Carrick’s own response landed on Friday afternoon, minutes after the Pochettino announcement. In a statement posted on Instagram, he called leading the club he loves an immense privilege, thanked supporters as a special, rare breed, and admitted the results had not been there lately while the support had never wavered.
That love never dies. I want nothing but success for Manchester United. This club has been such a big part of my life and that will never change. I will be right there with you from now on, watching from the sidelines, cheering the lads on.
The players followed. SPORTbible’s roundup counted double figures from the squad on Instagram by Friday morning: Harry Maguire was first, calling Carrick a legend, Kobbie Mainoo and Shea Lacey thanked the coach who had backed them, and captain Bruno Fernandes, who had criticised the coaching after the Como defeat last month, closed his message with four words: thanks for everything, boss. The wider reaction was less gentle with the club than with Carrick: Gary Neville called the treatment of his former team-mate disgusting, and the departing coaches Steve Holland, Jonny Evans and Jonathan Woodgate were reported to be unhappy with how the week was handled.
What Happens Next At Old Trafford
The calendar now runs in three steps. Haiti twice, on November 14 and 17, closes the Pochettino USA chapter. November 18 starts the United one, with a first training session expected the following day and a first United press conference towards the end of next week. Then, on November 22, comes Anfield, with United still 18th and the new head coach holding roughly three days of training before the hardest away fixture in English football.
That is the honest shape of this follow-up. The sacking story ended on Thursday with a club looking for its eighth permanent coach in 13 years. By Friday it had one, the outgoing coach had said goodbye with his standing intact among the players he coached, and the incoming coach had cried at his farewell press conference before taking the job. What Pochettino can change by January, and what no coach has fixed at United since 2013, is the part that starts at Anfield.
