Manchester United's hierarchy reportedly believes the players should take part of the blame for the humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como. Head coach Michael Carrick is under mounting pressure but his job is safe for now, with club officials stunned by the poor display from the players on the pitch.
Como's early dominance and key moments
Nico Paz opened the scoring after just two minutes, and several saves from Senne Lammens kept the score down until after half-time, when Cesc Fabregas' side added two more goals. Paz assisted Anastasios Douvikas and scored his second of the night.
The 22-year-old stole the show for the Serie A side in a match expected to be decided by talismanic attacking midfielders. Meanwhile, Bruno Fernandes was played out of position and then substituted in the 66th minute.
Player performances under scrutiny
The United captain was one of many poor performers on the night, with Andrey Santos, who was taken off at the interval after being booked, struggling in midfield. Mason Mount and Matthijs de Ligt were rare starters who looked out of their depth.
Injury problems and a quick turnaround caused Carrick to make changes, but a strong XI was still picked, leaving United chiefs stunned by such a bad display, as per The Times. Their report also claimed that the poor recent form is on the players and not just Carrick.
Carrick's response and Fernandes' criticism
Carrick is under significant pressure with United having won just twice this season. He is not currently thinking about his own future, with his focus on turning things round.
"Listen, I've not given my own position any thought," he said. "[My thoughts are] for the supporters – I was one of them watching that and I wasn't happy at all."
"It's not about me right now and my feelings in that regard. It's more of as a team and as a football club, what we want to look like, what we should look like. And as I said, the results can come and go at times, but you got to do it in a certain way. And that wasn't it."
Fernandes was left fuming by the display and the tactical plan, telling TNT Sport: "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."
When asked point-blank if Carrick had got it wrong, he replied: "That's on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable."
Carrick was given the opportunity to respond and seemingly threw it back onto the players and their lack of effort on the night. He said: "We actually half-pressed man-to-man the second half and then conceded a goal from that. And 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."
