The Manchester United dressing room was ‘fractious in the extreme’ at half-time in their 6-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, according to reports.
The Athletic claim Bruno Fernandes was ‘particularly vocal’ as ‘blame swirled’ in the United dressing room.
A source told the publication: “It is not uncommon for a forward to turn round to a defender and say, ‘Any chance of you keeping a clean sheet?’ Sometimes if there’s a bottle in hand things start flying. It can be good to have those exchanges.”
Fernandes was substituted along with Nemanja Matic at the interval, and wasn’t best pleased.
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A source said: “I don’t think anyone would be pleased getting taken off because it looks to the world like it’s your fault.”
Another adds: “Bruno can be direct but in this case, he has three games coming with the national team and the impression was that Ole wanted to save him and protect him from getting too frustrated on the field.”
The report also claims much of the frustration was aimed towards Tottenham’s Erik Lamela, whose antics saw Martial dismissed early into the contest.
An insider reportedly said: “The players thought he was a disgrace.
“At half-time the United players all knew Lamela had faked it. They were angry. Jose did a masterstroke to take him out.”
The players were crushed after the game, with a source quoted as saying: “In the dressing room, of course everyone was so massively disappointed and Ole was angry.
“The players had to go quite quickly, which was good for them. They had to leave for international duty straight away.
“Normally you have a mixed zone (where players talk to journalists on the way out of the stadium) to walk through, your family is there, and it is all more dramatic after a defeat like that. But in these times, it is quite solemn and lonely.”
