Man United stand by Michael Carrick as he's set to stay in charge for crunch Bournemouth game - as ANOTHER damning Bruno Fernandes interview emerges about living 'in the past'

· DailyMail

CHRIS WHEELER: United are refusing to press the panic button and sack Carrick who is now expected to stay in charge for Sunday's game against Bournemouth at Old Trafford at least.

Michael Carrick will hold a pre-match press conference at Carrington on Friday ahead of Manchester United ’s game with Bournemouth as club sources said it was ‘business as usual’ for their embattled head coach.

Carrick is under huge pressure in the wake of Wednesday’s calamitous 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como in Italy. It was United’s heaviest defeat in Europe since 1994 and came on the back of the club’s worst league start in 40 years.

However, United are refusing to press the panic button and sack Carrick who is now expected to stay in charge for Sunday’s game against Bournemouth at Old Trafford at least. United then face Chelsea , Roma and Aston Villa before a two-week international break next month.

The fact that Carrick will speak to the media again, less than two days after he tried to explain his team’s shocking performance in the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium, is the strongest signal yet that United are aiming to stand by Carrick for the time being.

It also buys the club time if they do decide to make a change with Julian Nagelsmann , Antonio Conte , Fabian Hurzeler and Kieran McKenna among the early candidates being tipped to replace him.

Carrick's tactics were questioned by captain Bruno Fernandes in the wake of the defeat by Como.

He said: ‘It's a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams they get confidence.’

Asked if he meant that Carrick got his tactics wrong, Fernandes added: ‘That's on the manager and staff to say, not me.'

When Carrick was told about Fernandes’ comments, the United boss gave a pointed response by suggesting that his players weren’t willing to run enough.

Fernandes also gave further damning comments in an interview with Italian media post-match.

The Portuguese midfielder, who played in Italy during the early stages of his career, suggested Man United have been living 'in the past'.

> 'Everyone at the club needs to understand that things aren’t the same anymore; we’re not in the past, and we have to look to the future,' Fernandes told Sky Sport Italia.

> 'We have to create something different in the present. At this club, there’s too much focus on what’s been done in the past, but we’re not those people anymore.

> 'The club and the players need to understand that.

> 'Unfortunately for us - especially when it comes to the players - those who join expect to win trophies, win games, and reach the highest level, but unfortunately, that's been very difficult at this club in recent years.

> 'That's the situation.’

Sky Sport Italia’s pitchside reporter Pierluigi Bagnulo claimed Man United's press officer had not wanted Fernandes to speak Italian post-match amid fears they ‘wouldn’t understand his words'.

Speaking after the game, Carrick accepted responsibility for the defeat and tried to look ahead to the Bournemouth game. ‘I'm more than frustrated, I'm really angry, to be honest,’ he said. ‘But you got to move on. You’ve got to deal with what's next and see what that looks like.

> ‘At this moment in time, there's a lot to do before that next game to get the team ready because that was a difficult night for everyone tonight.

> ‘I take one hundred per cent responsibility for the overall team and the performance. It stops with me and I'm absolutely fine with that. I accept that totally.

> ‘But it's not about me right now. I'm in a position, of course I am, and I take that with real privilege. But it's about the football club and what we represent and the supporters.

> ‘The results can come and go at times, but you’ve got to do it in a certain way – and that wasn't it.’

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