Bruno Fernandes slammed for what he’s ‘telling fans’ but Michael Carrick to blame too

Ashley Young slammed Bruno Fernandes for his reaction to being dropped as Manchester United faced Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.

Fernandes hit out at Michael Carrick’s tactics at United lost to Como in the week. Following his comments, there were calls for the United skipper to be punished, and he was by being dropped for the game against Bournemouth.

That decision did not pan out too well for the Red Devils, who were battered by the Cherries.

United had two goals put past them in the first half, courtesy of Rayan and Marcus Tavernier, before in the second, Evanilson added a third – the Red Devils were unable to answer to any of them.

The optics of Fernandes turning up at the ground hiding in his hood were slammed by former United man Ashley Young.

He said on Sky Sports: “Okay, you’ve been dropped as a player. It happens to players. I’ve been there. But you want to see a reaction.

“He’s got his hood up, he’s walking in, he’s telling the fans that he’s still upset. But that’s not the reaction you want from a captain of Manchester United.

“You want to see him say ‘okay, right, I’ve been dropped. I know what I’ve done wrong. I’m going to walk in, and when I get the opportunity to come on the pitch, I’m going to show what I’m actually about.

“‘Okay, my comments in the week were said and directed to Michael Carrick, but I don’t want to show everyone else. What I’ve said is already out there. Now I need to show what I’m about, personality…

“Showing that when he walks in, that’s not what you want to see.”

Clinton Morrison, meanwhile, feels if Carrick wanted to make a statement, there was no reason for Fernandes to be in the squad at all – he didn’t get on the pitch.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “If you want to make a statement about not having Bruno Fernandes because of the comments he made, just leave him out of the squad, having him on the bench opens him up to criticism.

“Just be honest, don’t say it was tactical, you did it because of the comments he made.”

What Bruno Fernandes said about Michael Carrick

After the 4-1 loss to Como on Wednesday, Fernandes said:”It’s not the first time, we started on the wrong foot, and they scored very early. Not much pressure on the ball, not many good movements with the ball, not many things going our way.

“Conceding early makes us go into game with a mood of defeat, it’s difficult to get out of that, trying to be brave, to have the ball and make something happen. If we are not able to do that, it is going to be very difficult to get out of this situation.

“It’s a decision from the staff to not 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.”

Asked if Carrick got things wrong, Fernandes said: “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 [Como], the centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable 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.”