On the shores of Lake Como, Manchester United’s European night unravelled into a 4-1 defeat that has sharpened the sense of crisis around the club. The Champions League loss, in the third round of the 2026-27 competition, arrived alongside a poor Premier League opening and fresh public criticism from within the dressing room.
United have managed only one victory from their first seven league matches, leaving Michael Carrick under mounting pressure. Former club captain Wayne Rooney has argued that the manager must not be allowed to carry the consequences of players avoiding responsibility.
A difficult sequence for United
- About a week before the trip to Como, Lisandro Martínez spoke forcefully after United’s 2-0 Champions League defeat to Atlético Madrid.
- The Argentine defender, who wears No. 6, called for greater backing from the club hierarchy and singled out football director Jason Wilcox, saying he expected more investment and more from the sporting leadership.
- United then travelled to Como and suffered a 4-1 loss, one of the club’s heaviest defeats in Champions League history.
- After that match, captain Bruno Fernandes questioned Carrick’s tactical approach, particularly the decision not to use man-to-man pressing.
Fernandes said the choice came from the coaching staff, adding that a side sometimes needs to be braver under pressure, accept the risk of pushing higher and disrupt opponents further up the pitch.
Rooney’s warning to the squad
Rooney took issue with the public tone of the recent comments, saying he expects similar remarks from more United players if the team’s form does not improve. While he said there could be debate over whether Fernandes had a point, Rooney insisted that performances on the field must come before criticism elsewhere.
He described the players as self-interested, arguing that they were not sufficiently focused on teammates, the coach or supporters. In Rooney’s view, when circumstances do not suit them, they react immaturely and place blame on others rather than themselves.
The former United forward also urged Martínez, Fernandes and the rest of the squad to examine their own contribution. He said they had to show considerably more, warning that Carrick could ultimately lose his job if the group continued to let the manager absorb the damage from poor results.
For Carrick, the task is now broader than repairing a Champions League result in northern Italy. With domestic form already weak and senior voices airing frustrations in public, United must find a response before the season’s early turbulence becomes a deeper institutional problem.
