Manchester United got absolutely humbled, dropping a brutal 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como in Italy, and captain Bruno Fernandes immediately went off on boss Michael Carrick’s tactics. It was a wretched performance, pure and simple, and the Portugal attacking midfielder didn’t hold back on TNT Sports, questioning the entire game plan. “It’s a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, but sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence,” the 32-year-old said. When pressed if Carrick got it wrong, Fernandes dodged, “That’s on the manager and staff to see it, not me.” Talk about throwing your coach under the bus, right after the final whistle.
Carrick’s Hot Seat Just Got Incinerated
This isn’t just about Fernandes’ post-game outburst, either. Carrick was already fighting for his job after a terrible start to the season, and now this. Manchester United hasn’t won a single game in their past seven outings, stretching all the way back to when they beat “Champions League minnows Sabah.” Let that sink in: seven games without a W. In the Premier League, it’s even worse, with only one win in seven games this season. Carrick, responding to the chaos, didn’t pull punches either, laying it on the players: “There’s a little bit of 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 aren’t going to win.” Ouch. It’s clear the locker room is a mess, and this public spat just blew the lid off.
Pundits Rip Fernandes’ “Awful Attitude”
Former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher, working as a summariser on CBS Sports, absolutely unloaded on Fernandes, calling his actions “an absolute disgrace.” Carragher thinks Fernandes was simply “embarrassed by the manager who brought him off.” He went further, saying Fernandes “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.” According to Carragher, watching Fernandes “throw his arms up every week in a game is an absolute disgrace and calling the manager out considering how he’s performed this season on the pitch. It’s an awful attitude and not what a Manchester United captain should be.” This isn’t an isolated incident either. Just a week prior, defender Lisandro Martinez made similar headlines after a defeat to Atletico Madrid, demanding “more investment in the squad” and “more from our technical director [Jason Wilcox],” though Martinez later apologized. Fernandes’ comments, however, could have even bigger repercussions. Former Leicester and Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel echoed the sentiment on BBC Radio 5 Live, saying Fernandes “probably should not be saying these things because it’s only going to add to the problems.” He stressed that these issues need to stay “in-house” because “Michael Carrick didn’t need this, the club didn’t need this. It’s exposing all of the issues that are at Manchester United.” Most pundits aren’t mad at his opinions, but furious he let the world hear them.
With Carrick’s job on the line and the team in total disarray, Manchester United needs to figure out these internal issues, and fast. The club is in crisis, and this public drama only makes a bad situation worse.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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