Carrick handed shock Man Utd sack warning and given departure timeline

Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has claimed Michael Carrick might not survive to January after a difficult start. Butt has argued that the Red Devils boss, who was only given the permanent job in the summer, doesn't have a good enough defence to compete - and that could be his downfall.

Manchester City's 1-0 win at Old Trafford was a second defeat of the season for the former United midfielder after their opening day disappointment at Hull City. United reinforced their midfield during the summer with Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba adding options in the engine room.

Butt has argued that a difference in opinion regarding the squad could be one of the factors behind the end of the 45-year-old's first Premier League role, with question marks over defence, midfield and attack.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, sponsored by Midnite, Butt made clear that he felt Carrick had been left short with the summer recruitment. He said: “I think that's all well and good, saying they're doing it in sections from the club and the recruitment, but if you're a manager, you're thinking, well, the forwards, they think they're sorted, I don't think they are.

"I think they need a number 9, an out-and-out number 9. They've gone and sorted the midfielders out, which is debatable.

“I think they've done a decent job with that, but it could be that Michael could not even get to the next transfer window, and he could be going, 'well, I've lost my job and you're not giving me the tools to go and do my job with the back four'.

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“Because certainly whatever you say about that back four, Harry Maguire's been an unbelievable player, top, top player, but he's getting to a certain age now, and he is getting older, and we've all been there, haven't we? You get older and you slow down, or you're not as good, not as quick.

“Martinez is still at the top of his game, he's still a really good player. I love Luke Shaw. When he's fit and playing, he's one of the best in Europe, but it's a fact that he gets a lot of injuries.

“The right-backs, I don't believe either of them are good enough. So you're looking as a manager or as a coach, and you're going, ‘well, I'm desperate to get some players in the back four '.

"But then it looks like the recruitment team and the powers that be at United are going, ‘no, that's our next phase, and that might happen in January, it might even happen, and it's gonna be really hard, or it'll probably be happening in the summer.’ That doesn't help the coaches.”

Carrick finds his defensive options depleted with no additions to their backline, leaving the same structure that he had to transform after Ruben Amorim's dismissal.

Luke Shaw was forced to miss Sunday's derby defeat with Patrick Dorgu deputising at the back, while Diogo Dalot was handed his 250th appearance for United.

Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez maintained their place as starting defenders, but among the options off the bench were Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui.

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It leaves a dangerous and worrying prospect of options in the event of an injury or suspension to the English or Argentine stoppers, with United facing a hectic schedule due to their participation in the Champions League this season.

Carrick, whose United side are back in action against Brighton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, urged his players to forget the derby day disappointment following their controversial loss to 10-man City.

"We've got two games coming up this week, and it's part of it, moving on quickly," Carrick said.