Man United are one of the world's biggest clubs, and their poor starts have them facing relegation

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• Rob Dawson

Nov 8, 2026, 01:45 PM ET

Manchester United are locked in a battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League despite a dramatic 4-4 draw against Aston Villa that left England's biggest club in the bottom three and manager Michael Carrick facing the sack.

United twice overturned a two-goal deficit to salvage a point, but the result extended United's winless league run to eight games -- their worst-ever stretch in Premier League history -- and without a league win since August.

But two goals in stoppage time by substitutes Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu denied Villa the win and ensured United avoided going into the international break on the back of three straight league defeats.

Yet with United's games descending into chaos due to bad starts and late fightbacks, Carrick's failure to bring calmness and stability -- and results -- make him extremely vulnerable in his job.

Man United face relegation because they keep putting themselves in a hole straight away

Whoever is the United manager when they next play Liverpool at Anfield later this month, the first challenge will be to stop the hugely damaging habit of starting games terribly because they face relegation if they don't.

United are falling behind before games really get going, and then they wake up late and force themselves to play catch-up. United have conceded first in 10 of 15 games this season in all competitions; three of those 10 instances were in the first 10 minutes.

And guess what? It happened again against Villa with Unai Emery's side 2-0 up inside five minutes at Old Trafford. (Roma also raced into a 2-0 half-time lead in the Champions League in midweek before United pulled off an incredible fightback to win 3-2.)

No team can expect to prosper if they start games so badly on such a regular basis.

To make matters worse, United started the second half by conceding another two quick goals to surrender any hope of taking anything from the game, making United is the first team in Europe's Top 5 Leagues to concede 30 goals this season in all competitions.

United are the first team to concede two goals in the first 10 minutes of each half this season in the Premier League and they are the second team in Premier League history to concede two goals in the first 10 minutes of each half, and first in the last 30 seasons to do so. The only other instance was Manchester City in October 1995 against Liverpool in a 6-0 win by Liverpool.

So if United don't sort it out, they will be in a relegation battle and they might not get out of it.

Carrick out of his depth, and likely out of United job

Michael Carrick has surely come to the end of the road as United manager after less than 12 months in charge.

Snatching a point following another late fightback is a positive, but United were so bad for so long in this game that the manager must answer questions about how his team can be so easy to score against.

Manchester United are the first team in Europe's top Big Five Leagues to concede 30 goals this season in all competitions.

And while a last surge prevented another defeat, the harsh reality is that United have still managed just one league win this season against Ipswich in August. This is now a historic low-point for the Premier League's biggest club because they have never been in the Premier League relegation zone this far into a season.

Carrick is out of his depth, but so are the people above him who allowed him to continue in the job despite it being obvious weeks ago that he was not capable of turning the corner.

After a 4-1 Champions League loss against Como, United's owners and senior figures decided to sit tight and give Carrick the chance to pull the team out of its slump before the international break.

Since then, United have managed just one point from three games, conceding nine goals in the process.

It is a team that is sinking fast and needs an experienced manager to save them from the unthinkable ignominy of relegation.

Man United fans target owners and players in protests

United fans continued their protests against the club's joint owners, the Glazer family and Jim Ratcliffe, before and during this game.

It's becoming a regular occurrence now at Old Trafford and the fans released balloons and produced banners urging the owners to sell -- and also made it clear that they blame the Glazers and Ratcliffe for the mess the team are in.

But despite some fans calling for a walk-out on 21 minutes -- it's 21 years of Glazer ownership now -- Old Trafford remained full until the final stages of this latest defeat.

The Glazers have proved incredibly thick-skinned since their 2005 takeover and none of the U.S.-based family was watching. Ratcliffe has only been joint owner for two and a half years and he wasn't here either, but the message was loud and clear from the fans.

Early on, chants from supporters rang out: "You're not fit to wear the shirt," an unmistakable dig directed at the players who started so poorly.

But will any of it make a difference? Probably not.

Dalot a symbol of United's decline

Diogo Dalot's substitution midway through the second half was greeted by huge cheers from sections of United's support. He was poor against Villa -- partly at fault for the first goal before giving away a penalty -- but he didn't deserve that reaction from the crowd.

No one can question Dalot's commitment, but he's come to symbolise United's decline. Signed in 2018 under Jose Mourinho, he was one of the most promising full-backs in the world when he arrived. Nearly a decade later, lots of fans believe he should have been moved on years ago.

The fact that he's still at Old Trafford is often held up as evidence of under-investment in the squad. It doesn't help that he's being asked to play in an unnatural position at left-back. United have been criticised for not signing a left-back in the summer and Dalot playing there in the absence of Luke Shaw has only served to emphasise the point.