Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has seemingly aimed another dig at Michael Carrick after being dropped against Bournemouth.
The Portuguese liked a cryptic Instagram post about ‘loyalty’ and ‘no longer caring’ on Sunday following the club’s disastrous 3-0 thrashing at Old Trafford.
Fernandes was axed for the clash after criticising his beleaguered manager’s tactics in the aftermath of their 4-1 hammering at Como in the Champions League in midweek.
‘Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care,’ read the post, which the talisman liked. It is not clear why he did so, and his like appears to have been removed.
Carrick could be sacked after a dismal run of two wins in 12 games since being appointed on a two-year deal in the summer, with United 16th in the Premier League.
The Manchester United hierarchy are in crisis talks over his future after the humbling defeat by Bournemouth, though supporters sang Carrick’s name throughout the match.
Bruno Fernandes has seemingly aimed another dig at Michael Carrick after Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth
The captain liked an Instagram post which read: ‘Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care’
His decision to leave Fernandes simmering on the bench seemed to backfire, as United were thoroughly beaten by their opponents but the 32-year-old has failed to capture his best form this campaign.
Gary Neville has sided with his old team-mate Carrick, accusing Fernandes of being an ‘excuse merchant’.
‘Eric Cantona was very unorthodox as a captain. Roy Keane could sometimes be explosive in his interviews after matches, but they weren’t whingers about the tactics, about pressing, or excuse merchants,’ he said on his Sky Sports podcast.
‘Bruno can’t press. To come out and whinge after the game about the manager’s tactics, when you’ve just lost 4-1, and a few thousand fans have paid thousands of pounds to travel over in that far corner and get wet through. I’m sorry, read the room, Bruno.
‘This is not a time for whingeing, throwing your arms up in the air. This is a time for you to stand up and say, that’s not good enough. Be positive. Do something with a positive influence as a captain. But he’s not.
‘He’s gone and basically thrown his manager under the bus the week after [Lisandro] Martinez did the same.’
Neville added: ‘They weren’t singing for Bruno Fernandes to come on today. They’re backing Michael Carrick.
‘So get in your box. You know where you stand. Michael Carrick’s won things for the football club on a constant basis, and proven that he can have the humility, the resilience. And Bruno has got that. Bruno has delivered for Manchester United in more ways than any other player in the last 13 years.
Carrick dropped Fernandes to the bench after his recent outburst – but the decision backfired
Gary Neville believes Carrick will be ‘disgusted’ by his Manchester United players
‘He’s massively talented but he let himself down this week. He didn’t need to do that because he’s basically stuck the knife into his manager.’
Carrick did a lap of Old Trafford at full time, clapping the fans, but insisted he was not saying goodbye in doing so.
‘It wasn’t a farewell from me,’ Carrick insisted. ‘I probably didn’t really expect that off the supporters, if I’m honest, but I’ve always felt the support and that connection with them.
‘It will take a bit of time to digest, but I certainly appreciate their support. It’s difficult for me to have a day like this at this club and feel the emotion.
‘I’m carrying on as normal. I love this place. I’ll always do what I feel is going to be the best for the football club and I won’t change that now, whatever decision is made.
‘It’s a tough situation, there’s no hiding from it. What it looks like and what’s next I really don’t know. I love what I do and I feel the responsibility. We’ll have to wait and see.
‘Of course, I take responsibility. I respect the position that I’m in, and the responsibility is mine. What else can I say really right now?
‘I’ve been at the club a long time. It hurts an awful lot to see us going through this at this moment in time. The situation is where we are and we haven’t had results or performances that have been good enough.
United were beaten 3-0 at home by Bournemouth and the manager is hanging on by a thread
‘I’m feeling it for my players, they’re going through a tough spell. There’s a lot of emotion in the changing room right now, there’s a lot of the boys quite hurt, to be fair.
‘It’s not like they don’t care or they want to be in this position. The ones I’ve spoken to, it’s affecting them a lot.’
There are questions about how much support Carrick has in the dressing room after Fernandes’ outburst last week.
Fernandes, who is usually very deliberate in what he says in the media, was scathing in his criticism of coaches after the Como debacle.
‘It’s a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave a little space in behind and try to get the ball in the first moment, to wait for them, to give them the ball,’ he said.
‘But sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confident, they have so many bodies behind the ball that make you run a lot, make people get frustrated, and then obviously when you recover the ball the legs are, and the brain, much more difficult to make it work.’
But Harry Maguire came out in support of his gaffer after the Bournemouth loss, saying: ‘At the moment we’re not doing enough as players. Michael turned our season on its head last year and we played brilliant football and got brilliant results. This season we haven’t performed well enough as individuals.
‘We have got to find something, question yourself, look in the mirror, that’s the most important thing – think what you can do more and contribute to the team and if we do that we’ll get somewhere.’
Former United defender Ashley Young, who won the 2012-13 Premier League title with the club, accused the players of ‘giving up’.
‘There have been different managers [in recent seasons] but it’s the same players,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘There have been a few changes in players but they’re just not showing anything. You could tell today that it was like they’d given up – they’re not running for this manager and they’re not wanting to fight.
‘The fans deserve so much more, you can tell they want more and they know he’s been let down by those players.’
