Several Premier League managers are already under pressure after poor starts to the season. Matheus Cunha's late equaliser at Fulham has spared Manchester United boss Michael Carrick from extra scrutiny but there are already question marks against the 45-year-old. United have lost more matches this season than Carrick did in his 17-game interim spell. But he is not the only head coach who is feeling the heat. Tottenham are winless in five league games despite spending nearly £400million on new signings for Roberto De Zerbi in the summer transfer window.
Fulham tactician Alvaro Arbeloa, Coventry's Frank Lampard and Crystal Palace coach Pierre Sage are the others under pressure. All of their teams are in the relegation zone or hovering on the verge of the drop. Fulham, like Spurs, have yet to win after being denied three points against United agonisingly late. While Palace have leaked 11 goals, less than other Chelsea, and Coventry won their final match before the international break to end a four-game losing streak.
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Express Sport predicts which Premier League manager will lose their job first...
Charlie Malam - Roberto De Zerbi
Tottenham placed a lot of trust in Roberto De Zerbi with how big they backed him in the summer. That, and Spurs' upcoming fixtures, are why I think the Italian is in the most danger and could be the first to go.
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It says a lot when he’s calling his own team mentally fragile. After the break, Tottenham play Man Utd in a match where quite literally anything could happen. Then Coventry City, who have actually played better than their points total suggests, visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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After that comes Chelsea (A), Crystal Palace (H) and Leeds (A) before the November international break. Of a possible 15 points, any less than six would surely see Spurs searching for a new boss during the break.
And in my opinion, it’s very feasible that they lose three of those five games - and maybe even four of them. It’s a huge few weeks for De Zerbi to find the answers.
Amos Murphy - Michael Carrick
There’s already a sense of inevitability surrounding the sacking of Michael Carrick. It’s going to happen, so why not just get it over with?
In a way, INEOS were backed into a corner with the unexpected performance in the second half of last season, but there’s a reason Carrick is a failed Championship manager.
His constant desire to praise a very clearly abject United side on the back of poor results is as tedious as it is delusional at this point.
The United bigwigs should cut their losses, admit they made a mistake by hiring someone out of their depth and go hire an actual proper manager to lead them forward instead.
Jack McEachen - Pierre Sage
I’m not convinced it will be totally Pierre Sage’s fault, but this version of Palace is not likely to be the one he signed up for.
Just one win from five and being left in 15th is a poor start and if Oliver Glasner returns to Selhurst Park immediately after the international break and gets a victory, it will be a swift reminder of the manager they are missing.
Next follows fierce rivals Brighton, in between tricky European away days at Lyon and Besiktas.
If those four games all end in defeat, Palace could conceivably be in the relegation zone and worrying about their place in the Europa League.
Simply put, Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze and even Michael Olise have not been adequately replaced.
The scintillating team Glasner put together has been torn apart and replaced with players not fit to lace their boots. It’s a shell of the team from just months ago, and the manager typically pays the price, rather than the recruitment team that masterminded the rebuild.
Archie Griggs - Roberto De Zerbi
It's hard to look past Roberto De Zerbi, given just how dreadful Tottenham have been since the start of the season.
I didn't think it could get much worse than successive 17th-placed finishes, but they are now rock bottom of the Premier League table after losing three of their first five games.
They are now facing the very real possibility of being sucked into another relegation battle despite spending over £300m on new signings. That is unacceptable, no matter how you dress it up.
The gulf between expectation and reality at Tottenham is simply too large for De Zerbi to survive for much longer, unless he manages to miraculously turn things around.
The pressure will ramp up even further if Spurs lose at the hands of Manchester United after the international break. If they follow that up with anything less than a convincing win over Coventry City, the Belgian’s time should be well and truly up.