Who's to blame for Manchester United's decline? Ranking the biggest culprits

A humiliating 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth proves sacking Michael Carrick will not fix the institutional dysfunction running through executive leadership and ownership It's happened again. Another season, another Manchester United crisis. No longer does the end of daylight savings time herald the harsh winter ahead. Instead, it is the boos that ring around Old Trafford as the United faithful turn their ire on the same owners, the same executives and the same players, well aware it will be a different coach that pays the price. Sunday's 3-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth was remarkable only for the sheer unremarkability of it. In the 74 years after their first meeting in the 1949 FA Cup third round, Bournemouth won three games against Manchester United.

In the last two years they have won three games: all at Old Trafford, all 3-0. Freddie Kruger is treading the boards at the Theatre of Dreams. Although maybe that analogy is not quite apt. After all, the one positive that you could say about a Krugerian nightmare is that it tends to be a one-and-done situation. No such luck if you happen to be a Manchester United supporter. Could any of them now believe that sacking Michael Carrick would fix anything about this club? They've tried the Eddie Howe-esque Premier League mainstay, the relentless winner a