Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been dropped to the bench for Sunday’s home game against Bournemouth, days after he publicly criticised manager Michael Carrick’s tactics.
Sky Sports reported that Fernandes was left out of the starting eleven for the Premier League clash at Old Trafford, a fixture shown live on Sky Sports and already billed as a pivotal afternoon for his under-fire boss.
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The fallout traces back to Wednesday, when United were thrashed 4-1 by Como in the Champions League. Afterwards Fernandes openly questioned the game plan, pinning the approach on the coaching staff rather than the players.
Speaking to TNT Sports after that defeat, the midfielder made little effort to hide his frustration.
That’s on the manager and on the staff to see it, it’s not on me.
He added that United needed to be braver and press higher up the pitch, rather than sitting back and inviting pressure onto themselves.
Carrick keeps his options open
Carrick, under heavy pressure amid a dreadful start to the season, used an unusually emotional pre-match press conference on Friday to defend the club and refused to rule out disciplinary action against his captain. He insisted he would always do what he felt was best for Manchester United.
Despite the storm, Sky Sports News reported that Fernandes would keep the captaincy, so the armband stays with him even as his place in the side does not.
Not the only voice of discontent
Fernandes is the second senior United player to speak out this month. Defender Lisandro Martinez had already taken aim at the club’s recruitment after the Champions League loss at Atletico Madrid, calling for more backing from above. Unlike his captain, Martinez kept his place and featured in the following game.
The unrest has not gone unnoticed by the pundits. Gary Neville described the mood around the club as toxic, and from where we sit at Portsmouth And, it looks like a dressing room pulling in several directions at once.
United are hardly the only Premier League heavyweight with trouble off the pitch, as our look at Manchester City and the threat of a points deduction set out, and injuries keep reshaping the race at the top, as they did when a knee injury ruled Antoine Semenyo out for weeks.
With Carrick’s future hanging on results, the Bournemouth game has become about far more than three points, and our Premier League coverage will follow where it leaves both the captain and his manager. For now the picture is stark, with United’s talisman starting a must-win game among the substitutes.
