Manchester United manager Michael Carrick rejected criticism from captain Bruno Fernandes about his tactics in the aftermath of Wednesday’s brutal 4–1 defeat to Como.
Having seen their miserable run of form extended by a humiliating defeat to the Italian side, Fernandes stood in front of the cameras to criticize his team’s lack of pressing, specifically arguing it was Carrick’s decision not to press man-to-man.
Pressed on Fernandes’s comments after the final whistle, Carrick insisted not only did he deploy some of the man-to-man pressing Fernandes wanted, but it actually proved to be a bad idea.
“We actually half pressed man-to-man in the second half and ended up conceding a goal from that,” Carrick scoffed.
“There’s a little bit on 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.”
Fernandes Comments ‘an Absolute Disgrace’
Fernandes was the second United player to divert attention away from the squad in recent weeks, following center back Lisandro Martínez’s spectacular comments against technical director Jason Wilcox and the rest of the recruitment team.
To see Fernandes take a similarly scathing approach to his assessment of the situation came as a real surprise to CBS pundit Jamie Carragher, who accused the Portugal international of “killing” his own team with his actions on the pitch.
“We said Lisandro Martínez was bang out of order last week for calling out the hierarchy above him. For Bruno Fernandes to do that is a disgrace really,” Carragher said.
“When you think about last season, he got player of the year. That was on the back of Michael Carrick becoming the manager. He wouldn’t have got that award without Michael Carrick, because Michael Carrick put him back in his rightful position and he then went on to have a fantastic season because he’s a talented footballer. But when you think of him as a footballer, he’s a talent, but in terms of attitude and the way he goes about things, it’s not right at all.
“And he’s reacted like that because he’s been brought off and he’s been embarrassed tonight by the manager as he brought him off. And when he talks about pressing, whether it’s man to man or zonal, for years, Bruno Fernandes has meant Manchester United can’t press because he does things for the crowd.
“I commentate on games watching Man Utd and he runs all over the place like a kid in the schoolyard for the supporters. They all think he’s working hard—he’s not. He’s killing the rest of the team doing it.”
Fernandes’ Poor Showing Against Como
Few would argue with the statement that, from a technical perspective, Fernandes is United’s star. When firing, he’s a creative, goalscoring midfielder capable of picking apart any defense in the world, with a record-breaking 21 Premier League assists last season proving his worth.
Carrick has stayed loyal to Fernandes up to this point, hoping his out-of-form star will suddenly rediscover the quality that helped him land the permanent manager job this summer, but Wednesday’s game may have been a turning point.
Fernandes was, surprisingly, deployed as a striker against Como. While he had more touches of the ball than plenty of his teammates, the vast majority were largely ineffective.
The Portugal international, now 32, boasts a relentless engine but isn’t blessed with the pace needed to stretch a defense and looked evidently uncomfortable in a new role, culminating in a frustrated reaction to his withdrawal in the 66th minute, when United were 3–0 down and still chasing a way back into the game.
It was the latest in a long line of frustrating performances from Fernandes, who is known to be playing through injury, and his response to Wednesday’s showing proved he is far from happy with the club’s current direction.
With a contract that expires in 2027, United will soon have a decision to make on Fernandes. They have the option to automatically extend his deal by a further 12 months but, as United have previously demonstrated with the likes of David de Gea and Casemiro, they are prepared to walk away from their highest-earners if the finances are not right.
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