Manchester United’s season is slipping towards a familiar sort of misery. Seven Premier League rounds have left them 14 points behind leaders Manchester City and only two clear of the relegation places, while a 4-0 Champions League defeat at Como extended their winless sequence to six matches.
A club short of answers
Como struck in the opening minute of both halves, exposing a United side whose problems appear to run from the goalmouth to the forward line. Michael Carrick has not found the response required since taking charge, and the sense of drift has become difficult to disguise.
- United are 14 points adrift of City after seven league fixtures.
- They sit just two points above the drop zone.
- The loss at Como was their sixth game without a victory.
- United conceded four times, including goals in the first minute of each half.
The squad-building questions are scarcely new. United still lack a goalkeeper of the required standard, while around £300 million has gone on attackers who are not providing goals. At Como, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt were badly troubled by the home side’s movement and pace.
Fernandes turns his anger towards the bench
Bruno Fernandes has become the visible face of the frustration. The captain was constantly animated on the pitch at Como, berating team-mates for loose passes and inadequate pressing. Rather than lifting the side, the gestures appeared to underline the strain within it.
There is a case for Fernandes feeling he has earned the right to demand more. Now in his eighth season at Old Trafford, he has supplied 111 goals and 110 assists for the club. Yet his criticism after being substituted at Como was aimed directly at Carrick and his staff.
Fernandes said the decision not to press opponents man-to-man, while leaving room behind in the hope of winning possession back, had come from the coaching staff.
He added that a side operating through short central combinations will hurt opponents out wide if they are allowed too much time and space, before making his position plain: “That is the manager’s responsibility, not mine.”
Pressure grows on Carrick
Fernandes’ comments leave Carrick with a more awkward dressing-room problem alongside the results. The captain’s standards and output remain considerable, but a public divide over tactics is another burden for a side already struggling for shape, confidence and goals.
United once offered Fernandes the stage of Old Trafford. At present, the club looks a long way from the theatre of dreams and rather closer to a bad night that refuses to end.
