Manchester United officials are split over who to target as the club's next boss should they decide to sack Michael Carrick, with the 45-year-old likely to be dismissed if his side fail to beat Bournemouth on Sunday.
Carrick survived a disastrous 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como on Wednesday by the skin of his teeth, but his team are on a run of seven games without a win and have just two victories in 11 games all season.
While there is an acceptance that not everything that has gone wrong can be laid at Carrick's door, performances have been alarming and his future is a major topic of discussion inside the club.
Wilcox favours Premier League-proven candidate
But who to approach if United make a change is less clear. Director of football Jason Wilcox wants to pursue a Premier League-proven candidate, having pushed a transfer strategy that also focuses on signing players accustomed to the division.
Wilcox's top target would be Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, but the 33-year-old is reportedly unconvinced about the merits of making the move to Old Trafford, while the Seagulls would want a huge compensation fee to release their promising young manager. That is cash United don't have to spare.
Among available bosses, Eddie Howe figures highly in Wilcox's thinking. Howe is out of work after leaving Newcastle in the summer and his work at St James' Park and at Bournemouth before that is admired.
Nagelsmann remains a live candidate
Wilcox has the ear of co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but Julian Nagelsmann remains a live candidate. Nagelsmann's credentials have been pushed by the director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell.
Vivell wanted United to consider Nagelsmann in the summer, but the club decided that appointing a candidate at the World Cup was logistically impossible. Nagelsmann left Germany at that tournament and is now available.
Having previously worked at Bayern Munich, he has experience with Europe's elite clubs and is the kind of name and personality that Ratcliffe would be attracted to.
Ratcliffe's Da Cunha embarrassment
As if watching United get humiliated on the shores of Lake Como wasn't embarrassing enough for Ratcliffe, one of the stars of the show for the opposition was once a player within the Ineos stable.
Nico Paz might have stolen the headlines, but Como captain Lucas Da Cunha was immense as well, running the game in midfield and showing superb tactical awareness. The 25-year-old has broken into the France team this year, winning three caps, and looks destined to join one of Europe's elite.
But Da Cunha spent three years at Ineos-owned Nice and had a loan spell at Lausanne-Sport, another club owned by Ratcliffe's Ineos. He made just 11 appearances in his time at Nice and was sold to Como for around €700,000 in 2023, which coincided with Sir Dave Brailsford's hands-on role at the club as the director of sport for Ineos.
Now he is being linked with £50million moves and signed a new five-year contract in the summer. Nobody is suggesting United should have signed him from Nice, but it's another unwanted example of the judgment within Ineos-owned football clubs going awry.
No Champions League rules being broken
The eagle-eyed might have noticed that United have stopped publishing their travelling squads for Champions League games this season. While the cameras are allowed into Carrington for 15 minutes of training the day before a game, usually giving the squad away, United have stopped confirming a travelling group.
As the Manchester Evening News explained recently, the reason for that is to try and reduce any advantage the opposition might glean from such information, although so far the absentees in training have made it pretty obvious. A quick glance at social media would tell you who is available.
There is a UEFA requirement to have 15 minutes of the training session the day before a game open to the public, but there is nothing in the rules that dictates you have to publish a squad. That is something European clubs have always done, and their English counterparts have followed suit.
Haaland flies under the radar
There were plenty of United fans on the RyanAir flight from Milan Malpensa to Manchester on Thursday morning, and a familiar face from across town seeking to go under the radar.
Alf-Inge Haaland had his headphones in and his head down as he boarded the bus from the terminal to the plane, and seemed to make the journey without copping any grief.
On the night before the game, stickers branding Manchester City 'Dirty Cheating B***ards' and '114 Guilty' were plastered all over Como, but the day after the game, nobody seemed in the mood to try and sneak one of them onto Erling Haaland's dad.
Where's Varane?
Raphael Varane holds a non-playing role at Como these days, having hung up his boots soon after signing for the Serie A club. He was due to attend the UEFA Youth League game between the two teams on Wednesday afternoon, but didn't take up the seats reserved for him in the press area at the tiny stadium.
Varane could have been floating around somewhere at the Centro Sportivo Comunale Angelo Volontè facility in Rovello Porro, about 20kms away from Como, but perhaps he fancies dodging any potential questions. Erik ten Hag raised the influence of Varane, Casemiro and Cristiano Ronaldo on the culture at United in an interview with The Athletic on the eve of the game.
Varane was present for the Champions League fixture, however, and posed for selfies with United supporters who spotted him making his entrance to the stadium before kick-off.
Carrington dispatch
Another mind-melting week at Manchester United. After the chaos in Madrid, there was hope that Como would be a little smoother, but as United fell to pieces in the second half, that was quickly put to bed.
I was sitting in the small press conference room in the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia when I saw Bruno Fernandes' quotes attacking Carrick's tactics, and it felt like a repeat of last week.
There had been clear Watford vibes - right down to the result - to Carrick going over to apologise to the away fans, but the difference was that the current head coach went for his players after the game. It looked and felt like Carrick knew his time was up and that he wasn't going to let a performance that lacked the basics pass without comment.
His response to a question on Fernandes' comments felt like the verbal equivalent of sticking two fingers up at his captain, but he has survived to see the Bournemouth game. How the players react now is anyone's guess.
Quote of the week
"Whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don't run, and you don't run forward, and you don't run back, you ain't going to win."
Carrick has played down the issue of fitness throughout the season, but he turned on his players in Como. A remarkable response to criticism from Fernandes.
What to look out for next week
Carrick won't need to be told that a rare free midweek brings danger for him. It would allow United to get their ducks in a row in terms of a potential replacement.
That makes Sunday's game against Bournemouth pivotal for the 45-year-old. Win and it will bring the slightest bit of breathing space and a long week at Carrington to get back on track. Lose, and it's hard to see how he survives the week.
