Manchester United finally pulled the trigger and sacked Michael Carrick on Thursday after being left in the Premier League's relegation zone.

Despite two inspired comebacks in the last fixtures against Aston Villa and AS Roma, it was clear that Carrick was struggling in charge at Old Trafford, and a change needed to happen.

Still, the way United's leadership team handled the situation was disgraceful. Carrick led multiple training sessions this week without any communication from Omar Berrada or Jason Wilcox.

It appears that the next man in charge will be Mauricio Pochettino, who is set to leave his role at the US Men's national team after the international break.

Carrick's future remains unknown. While this season did not go to plan for the midfield legend, he still provided an excellent run of form last season which cannot go ignored.

Alan Shearer has backed his former England teammate Carrick to return to management after his United exit.

The Newcastle legend believes that Carrick could land another role in the Championship or abroad. The ex-boss was in charge at Middlesborough for three years before returning to Old Trafford.

"Whatever happens to Michael, I think, without doubt, if he wants to continue in management or coaching, then yeah he would get another job," Shearer told Betfair.

"Whether he'd have to go to the Championship or whether he would go abroad like we're seeing a couple of former players do - English coaches do that now - he would without doubt get another job."

Carrick's reputation as a manager would have not taken a large hit from his struggles this season. Everybody knows the problems that managers face at United. He earned more points than any other Premier League team between the time he was appointed and the end of last season.

Shearer also mentioned how Carrick cannot be considered blameless for United's form this season, but states that there are more significant issues at Old Trafford.

"Michael can't be blameless in what's going on because of what he did last season," he continued. "He's not been able to get a tune out of the squad this season for whatever reason.

"So, he has to accept his side of the responsibility. But Michael Carrick is not the problem at that football club."

Fans will agree with Shearer. While there were clear question marks over Carrick's coaching this season, particularly his in-game management and his conditioning of the squad, he was hamstrung by those above him.

A blind man could have told you that United needed to make defensive reinforcements in the summer. Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez were never going to sustain their levels from the back-end of last season, and Luke Shaw was never going to avoid injury throughout this campaign.

Those issues have come to the forefront this season and Carrick has not been able to find a solution to the defensive weakness. Pochettino will need to find a short-term solution when he is through the door.