Michael Carrick appears to be clinging on to his role as Manchester United head coach by a thread after a chastening 4-1 defeat by Como on Wednesday evening.
The Red Devils were comprehensively outplayed by Cesc Fabregas's side, conceding two minutes into the game and four minutes after the break, later finding themselves 4-0 down before a late consolation from Joshua Zirkzee.
It's the latest in an increasingly long line of sub-par performances under Carrick, and were there an obvious replacement, the feeling is that the former United midfielder would have already departed.
Either way, a dismal showing means United appear to be reaching the end of yet another managerial cycle, but where did the 4-1 defeat to Como rank in their worst performances?
We've taken a look at the 10 worst performance of the post-Ferguson era below.
10 – Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 Manchester United (2020/21)
While perhaps not an era-defining defeat, Manchester United’s 2-1 loss in Turkey featured perhaps the worst piece of defending ever seen in European football.
Heavily fancied to take three points from Istanbul, United found themselves 1-0 down when Demba Ba found himself 20 yards inside his own half and still the nearest player to David de Gea’s goal.
Ba would put Istanbul ahead with Edin Visca doubling the lead inside the first half with United losing 2-1, later crashing out of the UEFA Champions League group stage.
9 – Manchester United 2-2 Fulham (2013/14)
One of the two games on this list that wasn’t a defeat, though it felt like it at the time.
What was once a fortress had turned into a gift shop, with West Brom, Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham all rocking up to Old Trafford and winning under David Moyes’s stewardship as bottom-of-the-league Fulham arrived having lost 13 of their last 16 matches.
Fulham took an early lead with Manchester United attempting 81 crosses throughout the evening, eventually snatching a late lead, only to see Darren Bent score a stoppage-time equaliser, marking a turning point in Moyes’s reign.
8 – Olympiacos 2-0 Manchester United (2013/14)
Just two weeks after the Fulham debacle came the defeat to Olympiacos which spelled the beginning of the end for Moyes, with fan opinion shifting significantly.
While most of United’s worst nights have come years after the Ferguson years when the squad simply wasn’t good enough, the Red Devils went to Greece with Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in tow.
United were second best in Greece, registering just one shot on target all evening.
7 – Brentford 4-0 Manchester United (2022/23)
There was optimism upon the arrival of Erik ten Hag at the start of the 2022/23 season, dampened somewhat after the opening day defeat to Brighton in which United were very much second best. The defeat to Brentford a week later, however, was farcical.
United were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes and 4-0 down at half-time, in what was one of the club’s most embarrassing post-Ferguson defeats.
6 – Hull City 2-0 Manchester United (2026/27)
As in 2022, there was optimism at the start of the 2026/27 season with a revamped Manchester United midfield in place to – hopefully – continue the positive work under Michael Carrick during his reign as interim manager.
A trip to newly promoted Hull City was about as easy a start to the season as the Red Devils could have hoped for.
United conceded an early goal and never threatened an equaliser. Nobel Mendy doubled the hosts’ lead before half-time, with Carrick’s men failing to lay a glove on the Championship play-off winners.
5 – Watford 4-1 Manchester United (2021/22)
A day when just about everything went wrong for Manchester United.
The two first-half goals and even the red card were just about excusable, but the two stoppage-time goals to seal a 4-1 win for the hosts gave the impression the side had given up, leading to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal in the aftermath.
4 – Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United (2022/23)
In isolation, a 7-0 defeat to your biggest rivals is about as bad as it gets, but the mitigating factor for Erik ten Hag is that it did come in isolation, and that United were making positive strides under the Dutchman while Liverpool were struggling to crack the top four.
The Reds went 1-0 up shortly before half-time before a second-half onslaught from Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez (twice), Mohamed Salah (twice) and Roberto Firmino completed a record-breaking rout, leaving a punch-drunk Manchester United wondering what had just happened.
3 – MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United (2014/15)
After the sacking of David Moyes, the appointment of the more established Louis van Gaal felt like a much needed correction for Manchester United, though his start to life at Old Trafford could hardly have gone worse.
In just his third game in charge, he took United to Milton Keynes to face a club that had only existed for 10 years, as the League One outfit ran out 4-0 winners, with United’s first shot on target coming in the 72nd minute when already three goals behind.
2 – Grimsby 2-2 Manchester United
The match that Ruben Amorim’s miserable reign will perhaps best be remembered for. More shaky goalkeeping by the maligned Andre Onana saw United 2-0 down at half-time, with Amorim seen shuffling magnets on a miniature tactics board in the pouring rain at Blundell Park.
Two late goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire sent the tie to penalties, which United lost 12-11 to seal a humiliating elimination at the hands of the fourth-tier side.
1 – Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool
For all the good work under Solskjaer – the best manager Manchester United have had since Ferguson – there were also many dark days, and they don’t get much darker than losing 5-0 at home to your biggest rivals.
Two down in the blink of an eye and 4-0 down at the break, Liverpool made it five early in the second half, with Paul Pogba given a straight red card in what marked the beginning of the end for Solskjaer.
