Manchester United boss Michael Carrick said it was a “pure football” decision to drop captain Bruno Fernandes to the bench despite the Portugal midfielder’s criticism of his manager’s tactics in a 4-1 thrashing by Como.
Without a win in seven games in all competitions, Carrick badly needs a victory against Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday to quell speculation over his future and has made a bold call.
The Red Devils begin the day 15th in the table with just seven points from their opening seven league games.
Fernandes hit out at United’s passive approach out of possession as Champions League debutants Como ran riot in Italy on Wednesday.
“When you have options it’s always a difficult decision. We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want,” added Carrick as he dismissed the decision was taken as a response to Fernandes’s outburst.
Fernandes won a clean sweep of individual awards last season after breaking the Premier League record for assists with 21 as United finished third in the table.
But the 32-year-old’s impact has been much more limited so far this season, bar a hat-trick against Ipswich back in August.
Carrick made four changes in total with Matheus Cunha, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui also dropping out for Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro, Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo.
Fernandes’s comments came just over a week after Lisandro Martinez took aim at the club’s board for not doing enough to strengthen Carrick’s squad in the transfer window.
Martinez was not dropped for his remarks but was replaced at half-time in a 1-1 draw at Leeds last weekend with an injury and is only fit enough to return from the bench against Bournemouth.
“You can say whether Bruno was right or wrong in what he said but you have to take responsibility on the pitch. You have to take responsibility as a group of players,” said United’s all-time leading goalscorer Wayne Rooney.
He added: “These players, they’re selfish. They don’t care about their team-mates, don’t care about the manager, the staff or the fans, they care about themselves.
“If they’re not getting what’s right for them, they’re like babies and just throw their toys out of the pram and go and deflect the blame on to anyone else but themselves.”
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