Man Utd have sacked Michael Carrick, Sky Sports reports, with Mauricio Pochettino lined up to replace him. It’s the right call on the table and the wrong way round on the calendar: United have changed head coach 10 days before Anfield, and the new man may not be in the building for it.

One wrinkle. A second Sky story published four minutes later still says Carrick officially remains in charge and is expected to go before the end of the week. We couldn’t open a club statement, so treat the sacking as reported until United put their name to it. Earlier posts: what Carrick got right (12 November), the ham-fisted handling (11 November) and Pochettino agreed in principle (11 November).

What Sky says happened

Sky says the decision was ratified by Sir Jim Ratcliffe at a Monaco summit on Wednesday, on the recommendation of chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox. Carrick took training in Manchester that same day, which tells you how late the call came.

The trigger was the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday. United were 2-0 down inside four minutes and 4-2 down early in the second half before pulling it back. Sky’s reading is that the comeback, like the 3-2 win over Roma, wasn’t enough to change minds. The BBC’s Simon Stone puts it more bluntly: United decided the comebacks showed he was not the right man for the job.

Why the timing is odd

Carrick signed a contract to 2028 on 22 May, per Sky, after third place and a Champions League return. He lasted under six months. The BBC says United took 44 hours to tell the world they were sticking with him after the 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, so this is the second botched communication in a fortnight, whatever you think of the decision.

The Pochettino side is messier than a sacking usually is. Sky says he has a £7m release clause in his new USA contract and is likely to stay with the USA for their games against Haiti on Saturday and Wednesday. United still need to agree the buyout with US Soccer and terms for his backroom staff. The BBC put the cost at $10m (£7.5m). Most of the squad is away on international duty and, Sky says, returns by next Thursday.

So who picks the team at Anfield on Sunday 22 November (16:30 UK)? Nobody has said. If Pochettino can’t be in the dugout, an existing member of staff takes it, and it will be the first time that group has had to prepare without Carrick. That is a story for the weekend, not a prediction.

The bigger argument

Gary Neville told NBC, as Sky quotes him, that the club has the same problem under every manager: “It’s rinse and repeat.” Pochettino would be the eighth permanent head coach since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013.

Our view: Neville is half right. Carrick’s January to May shows this squad can be organised. But the BBC’s list of what went wrong is mostly not tactical. Central defence was left as it was in the summer, left-back became a rotation of five players, and the club’s own captain criticised the coaching staff publicly. A new coach fixes none of that by himself. Whoever sits in the dugout at Anfield is inheriting 30 conceded goals and a defence that hasn’t been strengthened.

For the managers in the frame, see our Pochettino tactics breakdown and the next ten league games a new coach inherits.