Fernandes’s public challenge to Carrick deepens unrest after Como defeat
Bruno Fernandes publicly challenged Michael Carrick in the aftermath of Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Como at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, creating fresh dressing-room turmoil at Manchester United. One highly placed Manchester United source described Fernandes as “Toxic”.
Michael Carrick now faces added unrest following Lisandro Martínez’s earlier public criticism of the club’s board, which had already become an extra headache for the head coach. Fernandes, the team captain, questioned the tactical approach used against Como and in doing so confronted the coach Carrick relies on to unify the squad and deliver a game plan.
Fernandes complained that “the staff” had decided against pressing Cesc Fàbregas’s team, a phrase the report equates with Carrick because he determines tactics and bears responsibility for performance. The piece describes the captain’s remarks as an act of betrayal because Fernandes serves as Carrick’s on-field proxy.
There is debate over whether Fernandes’s conduct will bring formal punishment in the same way Lisandro Martínez’s criticism of Jason Wilcox did, Martínez being understood to have been fined. The article suggests there is a case for Carrick to remove Fernandes from the captaincy and proposes alternatives such as Harry Maguire or Youri Tielemans as potential replacements.
Match details underline Fernandes’s limited impact: he was substituted on 67 minutes and replaced by Joshua Zirkzee, whom the club tried to offload in the last window. United used Fernandes as a false nine before moving him into his customary No 10 role after the interval, but he was judged ineffective and part of the performance that yielded one of United’s poorest displays in continental competition.
The report recalls Fernandes’s December interview with Canal 11 in which he said: “Nowadays, the issue of loyalty is no longer seen the way it used to. 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. “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.”
The article questions how senior players such as Fernandes and Martínez came to feel comfortable going off-message, calling them highly remunerated employees whose job is to play and maintain a united front, and it criticises Carrick for allowing what it terms a culture of entitlement to develop within the squad. It adds that both Carrick and Fernandes continue with the team amid the ongoing problems.
Carrick is expected to hold his traditional pre-game media conference on Friday afternoon and be in charge for Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday, so whether Fernandes retains the captain’s armband when the team is announced will draw attention.
