Gary Neville believes Michael Carrick has a difficult task on his hands to get Manchester United’s season back on track after being given more time by the club’s hierarchy.

Neville, who captained the club and played with Carrick under Sir Alex Ferguson, sympathises with his former team-mate but sees no quick solution. United's players have managed just two wins from 12 matches in all competitions this season.

Before the weekend's defeat against Bournemouth, they had also lost 4-1 at Como in the Champions League.

The Bournemouth loss at Old Trafford on Sunday, by three goals to nil, left the side 16th in the table and Carrick arrived at Carrington early on Tuesday morning with his future still uncertain.

Training is understood to have taken place as normal, with Carrick and his squad given the chance to turn the situation around and focus on producing a response at Stamford Bridge when his side faces Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend.

“I am surprised, but I am happy because I was absolutely certain that what I witnessed on Sunday would be the end of Michael,” Neville said on Sky Sports.

“It looked like he was walking round at the end on his own with the players behind him, like it was almost a goodbye lap, he is waving to the fans to say in almost an apologetic manner, but also a goodbye, so I am really surprised that ultimately Michael is still in a job.

“I am happy with it because the fact of the matter is it was very difficult on Sunday. How it is going to go over the next couple of weeks, I have no idea.

“But I hope he can get somehow those players to start playing for him again because they haven’t played for him in the last few weeks.”

Ashley Young, a former United winger, thinks the club could find it hard to attract a top-level replacement if they eventually part company with Carrick.

He said on the Overlap Daily: “For me, the players need to be better, but how many different windows are you going to need to get those players in?

“What manager is going to come in and say, ‘I want to work with this squad’? For me, the best manager in the world, Luis Enrique, would look at Manchester United now, look at that squad and say, ‘I’m not touching that. I’m not going there’.

“Most managers in the world have seen Manchester United as one of the biggest clubs in the world for years, and at the drop of a hat would have gone to be the manager. Now, I don’t believe that’s the way.”

Neville, who played alongside Carrick at United, feels for his former team-mate but believes there is no quick fix ahead.