A highly placed Manchester United source has described Bruno Fernandes as “toxic” after the captain questioned head coach Michael Carrick’s tactics in the wake of Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to Como.
Fernandes was substituted in the second half of the loss at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, with Carrick removing him on 67 minutes for Joshua Zirkzee, a player United tried to offload in the last transfer window. The Portuguese playmaker had started as a false 9 before moving to his favoured No 10 role after the interval.
Captain questions tactics after Como defeat
Fernandes complained about “the staff” deciding the best tactic was not to press Cesc Fàbregas’s team, a remark aimed at Carrick, who determines strategy and bears responsibility for performance. The incident has been characterised as an anti-leadership act, with Fernandes questioning the man who trusts him to unify the dressing room.
Last week, Carrick had to deal with Lisandro Martínez’s criticism of director of football Jason Wilcox, which became an extra headache for the head coach. Martínez is understood to have been fined, and Carrick had to field questions about the episode from the media.
Fernandes’s previous disaffection
Fernandes voiced disquiet last December in an interview with Canal 11, the Portuguese Football Federation-owned channel, at “hurt” caused by United’s desire to sell him. Asked whether there had been an offer from Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid, he said: “Nowadays, the issue of loyalty is no longer seen the way it used to be. I could have left in the last window and would have earned a lot more. At one point I was going to leave and I would have won many trophies that season. I decided to stay not only for family reasons but because I genuinely like the club. The conversation with the coach [Ruben Amorim] also made me stay.”
He added: “But from the club’s side, I felt: ‘If you go, it’s not really that bad for us.’ More than hurting, it makes me sad, because I’m a player they have nothing to criticise me for.”
Carrick’s position and next steps
Carrick is expected to hold his traditional pre-game media conference on Friday afternoon and be in charge for Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday. Whether Fernandes keeps the armband when the team is announced will be closely watched, and there is a case for Carrick to strip the 32-year-old of the captaincy and appoint someone such as Harry Maguire or Youri Tielemans.
Fàbregas, reflecting on the match, said: “I regret the last 10 minutes because I was the one who told the team to slow down the tempo because there’s another match [Sassuolo on Saturday] and at 4-0 we could manage things a little. Their goal hurt me because we dropped our intensity and dropped our defensive block, but it was my fault.”
