Manchester United’s forlorn players and staff returned back to Manchester and drove home in the rain in the early hours of Thursday morning as the latest storm builds momentum at the club.
The Red Devils were thrashed 4-1 at Como in the Champions League on Wednesday evening – in what will be the latter’s greatest-ever European display.
It proved a night to forget for United too as their winless run in all competitions now stretches to seven games – with their last win a 4-0 victory over Sabah on September 10.
Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes were both pictured driving away from Manchester airport at around 12.30am with the head coach and captain at the heart of the latest difference of public opinion.
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens and midfielder Mason Mount, who both started in Italy too, were also pictured driving to their homes in the damp conditions.
A week after Lisandro Martinez’s damning comments about the club’s hierarchy, Fernandes’ remarks have sharpened the focus on Carrick’s tenure after he questioned his tactics in Como post-match, in particular their lack of a man-to-man press.
Under-fire Michael Carrick was pictured driving home from Manchester Airport in the early hours of Thursday following their humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como
Bruno Fernandes’ comments about Carrick’s tactics post-match have heaped pressure on the head coach and also seen the United captain come under-fire for making his views so public
Reacting to Fernandes’ comments, CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was in shock at what he heard – brandiing ‘awful attitude’ Fernandes a ‘disgrace’ and declaring his actions as ‘not what a Manchester United captain should be’.
‘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 United 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.
‘Years ago, there was a captain called Bryan Robson, one of the greatest players to ever play for Man United because he played for the club, he didn’t throw the manager or the players under the bus.
‘He kept fighting for Manchester United and watching him throw his arms up every week in a game is an absolute disgrace, calling the manager out considering how he’s performed this season on the pitch.
‘Awful attitude and not what a Manchester United captain should be.’
CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher labelled Fernandes as a ‘disgrace’ for his comments
United captain Fernandes bemoaned their lack of pressing tactics during their defeat at Como
Carragher’s disdain for Fernandes’ actions didn’t stop there as he continued, before conceding that Carrick’s days the United hotseat are very much numbered.
‘Isn’t it funny? How many managers has he had, Bruno Fernandes? So every single manager at Manchester United doesn’t have an identity? How many managers are we on now for Bruno Fernandes? Five? They change the manager every season… Manchester United is rotten from top to bottom.
‘I said earlier on, it’s not about the manager. It’s everything about the club. And who has got the answers? We comment on it all the time, “they might need to change the manager or do this, do that”. Are we ever right really? Because no one ever seems to get it right. But listen, there’s no doubt the manager needs to be changed now. Right now this can’t go on for a club of the stature of Manchester United.
‘But I’m glad Michael Carrick come out and just said that about Bruno Fernandes, that he don’t run, because they don’t run, this team.
‘And what he did last season, no one’s proclaiming Michael Carrick as one of the greatest managers in European football, but what he did was he come and helped his own football club last year when he was out of work himself. He’s come in and he did amazing.
‘And the reason Manchester United are in the Champions League is because of Carrick – he got them in there. The reason they got another 100, 150 million pounds into the club is because he got them in. No one though he was going to get into the Champions League last season. So I feel for him a little bit. He loves the club, he’s a legendary figure as a player, but obviously it’s not working out for him as a manager and that needs to be changed.
‘But I’m delighted he brought him off, Fernandes, and I’m delighted that he had a little pop back there in the press because that’s what they need some of those players.’
Speaking after losing to Como, Fernandes broke ranks to question why United were so passive again.
He said: ‘It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams they get confidence.’
Asked if he meant that Carrick got his tactics wrong, Fernandes added: ‘That’s on the manager and staff to say, not me.
‘Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw with Como, the centre back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to.
‘A team that plays through the middle with small connections, if you give them too much time and space then they can hurt you out wide.’
Having conceded to Atletico after 50 seconds last week, United were behind within two minutes as Como star Nico Paz struck the first of his two goals.
‘It’s not the first time, we started on the wrong foot, and they scored very early,’ said Fernandes. ‘Not much pressure on the ball, not many good movements with the ball, not many things going our way.
‘Conceding early makes us go into game with a mood of defeat, it’s difficult to get out of that, trying to be brave, to have the ball and make something happen. If we are not able to do that, it is going to be very difficult to get out of this situation.’
Fernandes was substituted in the second half and looked frustrated as he left the pitch
Fernandes was surprisingly substituted by Carrick midway through the second half, and the United skipper shook his head in frustration as he made his way back to the dugout.
When Carrick was told about Fernandes’ comments, the United boss gave a pointed response by suggesting that his players weren’t willing to run enough.
‘We actually were half-pressed man-to-man in the second half and then conceded a goal from that,’ he said. ‘There’s a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, but if you don’t run – you don’t run forward and you don’t run back – you aren’t going to win.’
United will look to end their winless run on Sunday afternoon when they host Bournemouth in the Premier League.
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