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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes blamed Michael Carrick and his coaching staff for the team’s failure to press Como man-to-man and for allowing their opponents too much space.
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The Red Devils suffered a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League, extending their winless streak to seven matches in all competitions.
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Under-fire manager Michael Carrick apologised to Manchester United fans, describing his team’s lack of intensity, aggression and commitment as unacceptable.
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Carrick defended his approach, arguing that tactics alone were not the problem and insisting that players must show greater effort both going forward and tracking back.
October 22, (THEWILL) – Manchester United captain, Bruno Fernandes, criticised Michael Carrick’s tactics following the embarrassing 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Red Devils continued their poor run with another disappointing performance in Italy to extend their winless run to seven matches in all competitions.
Fernandes blamed the coaching crew led by Michael Carrick for the team’s decision not to press Como man-to-man and the space the Italian side were allowed to exploit.
He said: “It’s a decision from the staff not to press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams, they get confidence.
“That’s on the manager and staff to see, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable.
“As you saw with them, their centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team, but we were not able to.
“A team that plays through the middle with small connections; if you give them too much time and space, then they can hurt you out wide.”
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Following the defeat, Manchester United have now won only two out of their first 11 matches in all competitions this season.
Under-fire Manchester United coach, Michael Carrick, apologised to the club’s supporters for the unacceptable performance.
He said: “First of all, I have to apologise to the supporters. I went over at the end. I care about this football club as much as anyone, if not more. I know the position that I’m in, that I value this football club. For us to play in that way, it’s not acceptable.
“It wasn’t a good performance at all. We wanted to build on what we brought to Leeds and the performance that we had at Leeds. That bit of intensity, that aggression, that real willingness to give everything tonight was totally the opposite of the performance. I have to say it was tough to watch.”
Carrick responded to Bruno Fernandes’s criticism of his tactics in the encounter, saying, “We actually half pressed man to man in the second half and then conceded a goal from that, is a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, but if you don’t run, you don’t run forward, you don’t run back, you aren’t going to win.”
Manchester United will be hoping to bounce back from the Como defeat when they take on Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
