Fernandes gamble leaves Carrick to carry the can for United’s institutional failures

· Guardian-PL

Leaving out his captain was doomed to fail but so are the club under its current leadership, and the fans at Old Trafford know that all too well Dropping your captain, the man that has held the team together for most of the past five years, is a bold move from a man whose job is on the line. It was very much a make-or-break decision from Michael Carrick to leave out Bruno Fernandes against Bournemouth. It did not work, and Carrick knew the consequences if it failed and will probably pay the price for it, but he should not be alone. Carrick said the decision to drop Fernandes was purely based on football reasons but criticising his manager after the desperate defeat to Como cannot have helped. Clearly Carrick disagreed with his captain’s comments on the lack of pressing in the Champions League fixture. It was somewhat telling that Lisandro Martínez kept his place despite pointing out the director of football, Jason Wilcox, was a hindrance to the club the previous week.

Dropping your captain, the man that has held the team together for most of the past five years, is a bold move from a man whose job is on the line. It was very much a make-or-break decision from Michael Carrick to leave out Bruno Fernandes against Bournemouth. It did not work, and Carrick knew the consequences if it failed and will probably pay the price for it, but he should not be alone.

Carrick said the decision to drop Fernandes was purely based on football reasons but criticising his manager after the desperate defeat to Como cannot have helped. Clearly Carrick disagreed with his captain’s comments on the lack of pressing in the Champions League fixture. It was somewhat telling that Lisandro Martínez kept his place despite pointing out the director of football, Jason Wilcox, was a hindrance to the club the previous week.

Fernandes has been a long way from his best this season, with three goals and one assist in the Premier League, all in one game against Ipswich. It would have been justifiable to give someone else an opportunity in the No 10 role, especially when the squad contains far too many of those. But then, no one at United is in form, so keeping an angry Fernandes in position may have made more sense. United have won almost half the Premier League fixtures Fernandes has started since he joined in 2020, and less than a third when he is absent.

Some question Fernandes’s attitude based on his physical complaints when things are not going right, but that is his way of showing he cares. He may not be a leader in the Bryan Robson or Roy Keane mould but is certainly the one that sets the example, shown by a banner in the Stretford End depicting the two former captains and Eric Cantona alongside the word ‘STANDARDS’. Those have dipped here. This is a mid-table team, made worse by a lack of desire.

Everything was pedestrian in thought and execution. One promising attack lost momentum and United decided the most sensible course of action was to pass the ball all the way back to Senne Lammens, resulting in deserved boos. It felt like a moment that indicated Carrick’s days were coming to an end.

Hypotheticals are pointless, as was Youri Tielemans, Fernandes’s replacement. The central midfielder has not impressed since joining from Aston Villa in the summer and the extra responsibility for an experienced player did not spur him on. He was ponderous in midfield, repeatedly losing the ball as he struggled to cope with the pace of the game against a Bournemouth team eager to press and hunt in pairs. The No 10 is supposed to be a creative influence in the final third but the Belgian was a lost boy against men.

A poorly defended first Bournemouth goal resulted in the inevitable cutting to a sullen Fernandes sunk into his seat on the bench. It was a goal that summed up the mood at Old Trafford, Rayan was left in space to volley home at the back post after Ayden Heaven needlessly gave away a free-kick. Fernandes looked miserable and the majority inside the ground felt exactly the same.

United lack pace across the pitch so require someone in key areas to speed up play, but Tielemans is not capable of doing so. His main influence on the match was getting booked in the first half, which all but confirmed his exit at the break. It was telling that Carrick turned to Matheus Cunha to take over the duties behind the labouring Bryan Mbeumo in the desperate hope he could spark his team into life.

Carrick has been left with an unbalanced squad, lacking quality in key areas. It would be hard to suggest on Sunday’s viewing that United were the Champions League team and Bournemouth in the Europa League. The Cherries can boast a wealth of smart recruitment, acquiring the likes of Adrien Truffert and Rayan – two players who would walk into the United team – for half a Harry Maguire.

The shambles of the third goal was on Lammens and Maguire, the former for running out too fast and the latter for not knowing how to run fast. Evanilson nipped in and flashed in the definitive game-ender. It sent Fernandes back to the bench with the expression of a man who had sipped sour milk. The final insult came when Carrick sent on the academy graduate Shea Lacey and left his skipper to brood.

It is not solely one bottle; the whole dairy has curdled. Carrick can take some of the blame; the Glazers, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Wilcox and Omar Berrada should receive more. United are not fit for purpose and the supporters’ ire was largely aimed at the directors’ box, demanding the owners sell up and go home, with slightly less savoury language. The Old Trafford faithful know where the fault lies, offering more creativity than any of their team with a fine repertoire of chants against the hierarchy, most pointedly at Wilcox, whose signing left Carrick in trouble before the season started.

Carrick had his name chanted, the full-time boos not for him. The manager – for now – did a lap of honour, cheered by the fans who jeered the players. Another era is nearing an end and finding reasons to be optimistic would be a greater waste of time than playing up front for United. Change will almost certainly come but it will not be enough.

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