Michael Carrick, the Manchester United manager, has described his choice to leave skipper Bruno Fernandes on the bench as one made purely on footballing grounds, even though the Portuguese midfielder had criticised his tactics after a 4-1 hammering by Como.
Seven games across all competitions have now passed without a win for United, which leaves Carrick badly needing a victory over Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday to quieten the speculation about his future. To try to secure it, he has taken a bold decision.
Heading into the day, United sit 15th in the standings, having collected only seven points across their first seven league matches.
On Wednesday, with Como making their Champions League debut and running amok in Italy, Bruno Fernandes lashed out at United's backline for sitting back and defending passively when they didn't have the ball.
“When you have options, it’s always a difficult decision. We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want,” Carrick said, dismissing the suggestion that Fernandes’s outburst prompted the move.
Last season, Bruno Fernandes swept the individual honours, setting a new Premier League assists record of 21 as United ended the campaign in third place.
Still, the 32-year-old has had far less influence this campaign, except the three goals he scored against Ipswich in August.
Carrick changed four players in his starting XI Ayden Heaven, Leny Yoro, Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo were brought in, with Matheus Cunha, Matthijs and Noussair Mazraoui among those left out.
Bruno Fernandes' Comment
The remarks from Bruno Fernandes arrived barely more than seven days after Lisandro Martinez criticised the club's board, saying it had not done enough to bolster Carrick's squad during the transfer window.
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His comments were not the reason Martinez missed out. An injury forced him off at the interval of last weekend's 1-1 stalemate at Leeds, and he has only recovered enough to sit among the substitutes against Bournemouth.
Rooney's Response
He went on: “These lads are selfish. Teammates mean nothing to them, nor do the manager, the backroom staff or the supporters; all they care about is themselves.
“If they’re not getting what’s right for them, they’re like babies and just throw their toys out of the pram and go and deflect the blame onto anyone else but themselves.”
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