Michael Carrick benches Bruno Fernandes as punishment at Man United

On Sunday afternoon, Bruno Fernandes will be on the bench for Manchester United, according to reliable journalist Ben Jacobs. Jacobs says the decision follows Fernandes' comments last Wednesday.

Manchester United lost 4-1 away to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. Afterwards, Fernandes sharply criticised manager Michael Carrick.

"The coaching staff decided not to press man-to-man, but instead to sit back and look to win the ball; the problem, however, is that you give teams like that confidence when you allow them that space," Fernandes began on TNT Sports.

"That is for the manager and the coaching staff to see, not me. Sometimes, when you are under pressure, you have to be braver, take the risk of pressing high and make things difficult for the opposition. As you saw against Como: their centre-back even came to mark me in our own half. That is what we as a team need to do as well, but we were unable to," the club captain concluded.

At the press conference before Manchester United's match against Bournemouth, Carrick refused to rule out benching Fernandes as punishment.

Who takes the captain's armband from Fernandes remains unknown, though Harry Maguire looks likely to get it. The Englishman has previously been the club's first-choice captain.