Bruno Fernandes’ Man Utd future in doubt as Carrick picks team to ‘represent’ Red Devils
Michael Carrick laid the threadbare Manchester DNA sentiments on with a trowel in an impassioned six-minute speech at the start of his press conference on Friday afternoon, which played like the last rites of a manager enduring a stay of execution.
He named Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Matt Busby as iconic Red Devils who embodied the club values of “being humble, having humility, and hard work” before insisting that he and his players – like those before them – will never be “bigger than the club” and are in no way “entitled to win”.
It was nothing we’ve not heard before from Manchester United managers and was rather at odds with Bruno Fernandes’ not unreasonable suggestion that to move forward they should “stop living in the past”, but it served to remind those who have forgotten that at least one person at Manchester United genuinely cares about the football club.
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That’s not to be taken lightly but is also no reason to persist with someone whose lack of tactical nous continues to be exposed by his peers. If love of Manchester United was the key factor in deciding upon the manager they should put Rio Ferdinand or Tony from down The Nags Head in charge.
It’s hard to imagine anything other than another defeat for Carrick as United welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford on Sunday, if not a humiliation similar to the one they suffered at the hands of Como in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Fernandes continued the theme of dressing room rebellion in a second bombshell post-match interview in the space of a week following Lisandro Martinez calling out Jason Wilcox’s efforts in the transfer market after Atletico Madrid.
Carrick kept his cards close to his chest when asked if he would consider dropping Fernandes or stripping him of the captaincy in the wake of the captain’s criticism of his tactics.
“The most important thing for me is the team, first and foremost,” said Carrick.
“It’s the squad, it’s the dynamics in the squad. And again, it’s about the football club. And I’ll always do what’s best for the football club.”
Few who have seen Bruno Fernandes’ performances for Manchester United this season would suggest he’s deserving of a place in the starting XI even before he voiced his frustration at the “decision not to press”.
“My responsibility is to get a team on a pitch that represents this football club, represents the supporters, and they can be proud of it with the identity that we show,” Carrick added.
That should mean no Bruno Fernandes, whose presence in the team – as highlighted by Jamie Carragher – means Man Utd “can’t press”, while the benefits to playing him that were so evident in Carrick’s interim spell at the end of last season as the Portuguese star claimed assist after assist to be named Premier League Player of the Season have been negligible this term. His only goal contributions in 11 games have come against Ipswich and Sabah.
Dropping him would be a win-win for Carrick, who can show Fernandes, his teammates, the fans and the media baying for his blood that he won’t shrink when faced with a big decision, while being able to field a team that can execute an effective press.
Whether he is able to coach them into that press is another matter, but he’s got to prove himself capable if he wants to survive for any length of time at Old Trafford. A mid-block and counter-attacks just isn’t going to cut it long term. This Is Manchester United after all.
And wouldn’t it be glorious to see an energetic, high-pressing Manchester United charging about the Old Trafford pitch “representing the football club” to an acceptable level while Fernandes sulks in the stands.
A positive result after a performance of that nature would give Carrick tangible grounds to keep Fernandes out of the team until he can show he’s willing and able to match the dynamism of Mason Mount or whoever’s taken his spot.
And he wouldn’t. He’s set in his ways. Fernandes may not believe he’s “entitled to win” but certainly feels as though he’s entitled to a place in the team and the sudden realisation that he’s not would surely expedite an acrimonious exit from the football club, which doesn’t feel far off in any case.
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