Michael Carrick remains at the helm of Manchester United, but results will need to improve quickly if he is to secure his long-term future at the club.

The Reds enjoyed an impressive run of form during the second half of last season under Carrick, earning the former midfielder a permanent appointment as head coach.

However, following an underwhelming summer transfer window, United have once again found themselves in crisis, with Carrick struggling to get his side back on track.

With just two wins across all competitions so far this season, changes are urgently needed to turn things around. Otherwise, Carrick could soon find himself under increasing pressure, with the possibility of the sack becoming harder to ignore.

Should that occur, the Reds do not have many available top managers whom they could appoint, although it seems like Antonio Conte would be keen for the challenge.

Conte, 57, won the Premier League at Chelsea but was unsuccessful during his time at Tottenham Hotspur. Most recently, the Italian coach spent two years at Napoli.

He would offer United the kind of experience and pedigree that they have not had since Jose Mourinho was in charge of the club; however, there are also obvious warning signs regarding the manager.

Not only does Conte's football leave a lot to be desired in terms of entertainment, but he is also well-known for falling out with clubs and ending tenures early. Considering the way INEOS have been operating, it does not seem like a perfect match.

Ashley Young, former captain of United, worked under Conte during his time at Inter Milan and knows all about how the Italian is behind the scenes, and he does not believe it would be a good move for his old club.

Young told the Overlap Daily: "A lot of talk has been about Man United’s running stats. If they’re not going to run and Antonio Conte goes in there, it’s going to be a disaster, I think.

"He is throwing his name in the hat. Whether that is something that’s going to happen or not, I’m not sure whether the Man United players will be happy. I think you saw that when he went to Tottenham Hotspur. 

"Speaking to a lot of Tottenham players – and I had spoken to Chelsea players before I went to Inter Milan and was like, 'So what’s he like?" And they were like, "You’re gonna run a lot, you’ll be fitter than you’ve ever been.'

"The training sessions were a lot of 11 v 11, at times a little bit boring. Meetings were long. When I say long, I’m talking, if we lost the game, we could go in and do the meeting after the game and it’d stop literally everything. 

"And you could be in there for three, four hours. I think that’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t last long at places, because not just the players – he tries to test mentally – but the board as well, and the owners, and I think that people get annoyed with him."

Conte does not feel like the right move for United, and it seems unlikely that he would be appointed if Carrick is sacked.

However, the Reds will not have many top-level managers to choose from if they decide to change their head coach mid-season for the third campaign in a row.

Trust in INEOS was immediately tested when they sacked Erik ten Hag just months after extending his contract. They then decided to trust Ruben Amorim through poor results, but sacked him after he spoke against the board.

The decision to trust Carrick for the permanent role was an easy one to make in the moment, after his excellent start as an interim, but another sacking will leave little trust from fans in how they will replace him.