Whoever is in charge of the team against Chelsea, Manchester United face a must-win game at Stamford Bridge this weekend. After last Sunday’s comprehensive home loss to Bournemouth, the 20-time English champions sit 16th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone, having picked up just seven points from eight top-flight games this term.

United’s seventh full-time manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Michael Carrick now appears destined for dismissal, having overseen the team’s worst start to a league season since 1986. On an eight-game winless run in all competitions, United last tasted Premier League victory at the end of August.

Fans show Carrick support

Mindful that the roots of the club’s predicament go far deeper than Carrick’s performance since he was made permanent boss just five months ago, the Old Trafford fans sang the legendary former United midfielder’s name at the weekend, despite his team’s 3-0 defeat. The supporters instead reserved their ire for the players - and for the United leadership.

The Glazers, the family of American businessmen who have been the club’s majority shareholders since 2005, were told to “sell United, f**k off home”. Fans mocked minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who heads up sporting operations, by referencing his early statements of intent after his 2024 buy-in: “‘Best in class’, you’re having a laugh!” Meanwhile, United’s under-fire director of football, Jason Wilcox, was informed that he is a “w**ker”.

In the short term, however, Carrick seems likely to carry the can for a run of results which, unless arrested, is leaving United in growing danger of relinquishing their top-tier status for the first time in over half a century.

How bad is Manchester United’s EPL form right now?

Over the six matchdays since they beat Ipswich Town on August 30, United sit 19th in the Premier League form table. And as things stand, the team’s average of 0.875 points per game leaves them on pace to accrue a paltry 33 points this season. In the three decades since the Premier League became a 38-game division, only one team has avoided the drop with 33 points or fewer: Nottingham Forest, who survived with 32 in 2023/24.

“[United] lack imagination, cohesion, fight, confidence and anything resembling joy,” wrote The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson after the team’s defeat to Bournemouth. “And so now, hovering above the drop zone, survival cannot be taken for granted.”

Gary Neville, the United great-turned-TV pundit, agreed: “They’re 16th in the league for a reason.” Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville added: “Manchester United right now are a very easy team to play against. There’s no work ethic, they’ve switched off, they don’t really press you [and] if they do it’s half-hearted. Their defenders are not good enough, as a unit or individually, and that’s it. So you should beat Manchester United right now.”

When were United last relegated?

A club that has spent just three seasons outside of England’s top flight over the past century, United have not been relegated once in the Premier League era. Since 1992, the closest the club has come to the drop was two seasons ago, under Carrick’s predecessor Rúben Amorim, when the team limped over the line in 15th place.

As ESPN’s Rob Dawson notes, however, that lowly finish was in part, at least, down to Amorim’s decision to prioritize his side’s Europa League run as a potential pathway into the following season’s Champions League. “This is a much more dangerous position,” Dawson warns.

United’s 2024/25 finish was the club’s lowest since 1973/74 - the campaign that witnessed their most recent relegation to the second tier. Fifty-two years ago, a team coached by the late Tommy Docherty came 21st out of 22, slipping out of the old First Division just six seasons after becoming the first English club to lift the European Cup.

According to common soccer folklore, United’s relegation was confirmed by a 1-0 home defeat to neighbors Manchester City in April 1974 - a game in which Denis Law, a former United star, netted the only goal with a cheeky backheel. However, Law’s strike did not actually relegate his old club: United would have gone down anyway, as relegation rivals Birmingham City guaranteed their survival by beating Norwich City.

Nevertheless, the goal brings back bitter memories for Law, a player who had netted 237 times in a legendary, 11-year spell at Old Trafford. The Scot, who looked ashen-faced after beating United goalkeeper Alex Stepney, and refused to celebrate, told the Daily Mail in 2012: “After 19 years of trying my hardest to score goals, here was one that I almost wished hadn’t actually gone in. I was inconsolable. I didn’t want it to happen.”

Having retained Docherty as manager despite their relegation, United returned to the First Division at the first attempt, topping the Second Division. The 1974/75 campaign remains the only season since 1937/38 in which the club has been absent from the elite division.

“A lot of questions we’ve got to find answers to”

“I’ve tried to do everything I can to not be in this position,” Carrick told reporters after last weekend’s humbling by the Cherries. The 46-year-old, who as interim boss had overseen an upturn in results last term, leading United to third place in the Premier League, added: “Certainly, to get to this point… there’s a lot of questions we’ve got to find the answers to.

“Last season, to finish third was a really good achievement under the circumstances, to get to where we did and the amount of results that we did […]. We definitely knew we hadn’t cracked it and there was a lot of work to be done, but it certainly doesn’t mean it should have gone this way.”

Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann are now leading the betting to replace Carrick on the Old Trafford bench, but the United boss insisted he was “not expecting” to be fired in the immediate future.

“I’m carrying on as normal and, you know, I love this place,” he said. “I’ll always do what I feel is going to be the best for this football club, whatever decision is made on anything really. So that’s kind of it. You know, I’m not expecting anything either way.”

When is Manchester United’s next game?

On matchday nine of the Premier League season, Manchester United visit Chelsea on Saturday, October 31, with kickoff at Stamford Bridge scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT. Viewers in the U.S. can watch the game live on USA Network, Telemundo and fubo.

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