What's going wrong at Manchester United? | Kaveh Solhelkol fan Q&A
Sky Sports News Q&A: What is going wrong at Manchester United?
Sky Sports News chief correspondent Kaveh Solhelkol answers Manchester United fans' questions, focusing on Bruno Fernandes's captaincy, his public comments about tactical instructions and whether a change of manager can fix the club. His overall conclusion is that United's problems run far deeper than one manager, and that without a change of ownership and structure, sacking coaches will only repeat the same cycle.
- Bruno Fernandes should not be stripped of the captaincy — He is United's best player and last season's player of the year; removing him would be a massive call, with the Gullit-Shearer episode at Newcastle United showing how badly such a call can backfire.
- Bruno Fernandes speaking honestly is refreshing, and his public comment on the tactical instructions is not a major problem — Fernandes only said the coaches told them not to press man-to-man; clichéd answers would make interviews pointless. He later accepted why some might think Fernandes should not have shared that detail, but still valued honesty over clichés.
- Bruno Fernandes's comments risk showing disrespect to Michael Carrick, and he should have taken more responsibility — He could simply have said the team's execution on the pitch did not work instead of revealing that the coaches told them not to press man-to-man, which looks like shifting blame onto the manager.
- Changing the manager without changing United's ownership structure will not solve anything — This is the third autumn in a row with the same crisis; the previous two managers were backed in the summer and gone soon after, and Carrick is now in the same cycle.
- Eddie Howe is a fantastic manager, but he would not turn Manchester United around — He did an incredible job at Bournemouth and won a trophy at Newcastle United, yet United's deeper problems mean he would likely be in the same crisis this time next year.
- Antonio Conte would command the dressing room, but he is not a realistic United appointment — He has won almost everywhere apart from Tottenham, and his old-school authority would shake up the players, but United are unlikely to go for him.
- Julian Nagelsmann would be too big a risk and not a good fit for United — He resigned as Germany manager after a poor spell and was sacked by Bayern Munich; he would be a major gamble, and it is hard to see him at Old Trafford.
- Michael Carrick is not Manchester United's main problem — He believes the club's problems are far bigger than one man, so the crisis should not be pinned entirely on Carrick.
- Successful teams are built on consistency with their manager, as Mikel Arteta shows — He points to Arteta being given time at Arsenal and improving the team as evidence that United's habit of frequent managerial change is not the answer.
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Transcript
Our chief correspondent Kavvis Solo joins us in the studio now and we can put your questions to him because you have been asking lots of questions. So let's start. Um look first up from Paul says this. He thinks Bruno Fernandez needs to be stripped of the captaincy. He says he's sick of the manager changing every two years while players remain. What are the chances of that happening then? Do you think >> Bruno Fernandez being stripped of the >> captain? Yes. >> Um well he's Manchester United's best player. He was the player of the year last season. So it would be a massive call for Michael Carrick to drop him. Um I think he'll be up there with going back to when was it when Rude Hullet was the Newcastle manager and he dropped Alan Sheer. >> Mhm. >> Uh and they lost and he lost his job. I think it would be a really really big call from Michael Carrick. I don't think it would be the right decision. I personally I know everyone's slating Bruno Fernandez. I don't have that much of an issue with what he said. I think it's quite refreshing that players are being honest. But of course, if you listen to former players, they all seem to be snowflakes because >> your words, not mine. >> They don't want players to be honest in these interviews. So, what's the point of doing these interviews? What would we have learned if Bruno Fernandez had just come out last night and said, "Yeah, we're really disappointed. That's unacceptable. We want to apologize to the fans. we're going to put it right on the training ground. It's just a waste of time. He's just being honest. He's the players are going to be slated because people are saying Bruno Fernandez one out of 10. He's a disgrace. He's not running enough. And he's just come out and said, "Look, the instructions from the coaches were that we should not press man-to-man." That's all he said. >> But is that not disrespecting Mr. Carrick in his position? He's sort of basically saying, "Well, we've been told to do this. We did that and it didn't work." So, >> why does he come back out and take a bit of responsibility? The players are the only people in the in football who are not allowed to have an opinion. Everyone else has got an opinion. Everyone's slating Bruno Fernandez and his teammates. They're just coming out because they're so frustrated like United fans and just giving a little hint about what is going on inside Manchester United. Landro Martinez last week saying we're unhappy with the transfer business. That's what every single Manchester United fan thinks as well. and Bruno Fernandez last night coming out and saying we were under instructions not to press man-to-man. So that when people say these United players are a disgrace, they don't care. They don't run. >> Well, he might have been out to say, okay, look, we're not lazy. We He doesn't have to say this is our instruction. He doesn't have to tell us exactly what went on. He could have said, well, actually, this is what we, you know, we did on the pitch. It didn't work. And move on. Why does it Why did he have to kind of say this is our clear instruction and almost blaming Michael Carrick in the process? I I agree with you. You've convinced me. >> I've become a snowflake as well. >> I don't know. Part of me thinks he shouldn't have said what he said. Part of me thinks it's refreshing that people are being honest. We want people to be honest. Otherwise, we're all just wasting our time. >> It's very true. Get those splinters out of your bottom. Uh look, right, uh many have sent in thoughts on who should be next and how they if they do get rid of carrot, which again we just must reiterate, he is still in his job. Es Lawler is one of them suggesting Eddie How though um and says he should have got the job in the summer. Do you think Eddie How would be a good fit? Could he be next through the door if >> I don't know if anyone's a good fit at Manchester United. I think you can keep changing the manager but if you don't change the ownership structure then you're going to end up where we are every autumn. Don't forget this is the third uh autumn in a row where we're in this position. Uh, we had Eric Tenhog being backed in the summer, couple of months later out of a job. We had Ruben Amarim backed in the summer, couple of months later out of a job. Now we've got the same situation with Michael Carrick. Eddie How is a fantastic manager? He did an incredible job at Bournemouth. He won a trophy at Newcastle United. How many managers have done that? Not very many. But could I sit here hand on heart and say he would go into Manchester United and turn things around and make them great again? No, I don't think I don't think he would. I think probably next autumn we'd be sitting here talking about the fact that Eddie How's given all this money to spend in the summer and things are not working out and his players are coming out uh and saying things they shouldn't and Manchester United in crisis and a lot of people would be making money out of Manchester United's misery. This is a soap opera. United used to be the jewel in the ground crown of English football. They are just not that special anymore. They're they're not that good anymore, you know, but they sell newspapers. They get a lot of clicks. If you want to become famous on social media, the quickest way to do it is to uh start talking about Manchester United, especially when they're not doing very well. This is a sort of uh doom cycle that United are caught in. My personal opinion is it won't change until their new owners at Old Trafford. >> Okay, so I guess this question is pointless then. But Matt 1900 says this, Conte and Naglesman both have massive personalities. Carrick's approach is too cautious and results last season m some very average performances. Could those two be good options to get a better grip on the dressing room and you will say no to that then? I think both of them um would potentially be interested if the job was available. Uh I think Conti what he would do to that dressing room. Also, I just remembered there's a behind-the-scenes documentary being filmed at United for the whole of this season. So, that's going to be an interesting watch as well. But, if he was to come in, I wouldn't like to be one of those Manchester United players. I love Antonio Conti. I think he's fantastic, old school. uh he's like the general, the godfather, what he says goes and he wins wherever he's been apart from at Tottenham, but shouldn't hold that against him. Nglesman, I think, is a little bit more complicated. He resigned as Germany manager. He didn't do a great job. There were problems as well. He was sacked by Bayern Munich. I'm not sure he would fit in at Manchester United. I can't really see either of them ending up at Old Trafford, though. I think uh for a variety of reasons I just can't I can't see it happening. I can't see United going for Conti and I think Nglesman would be a really really big risk. But I really feel bad sitting here and talking about you know Michael Carrick losing his job because I don't think Michael Carrick is the problem. I think the problems at Manchester United are way way bigger than one man. >> Yeah. And when we witness teams doing really really well, what does is the overriding thing is consistency with their managers. Look at Nicol Arteta for prime example. Um finally then Andy asks this. Would any manager even want to come to United right now with the way managers have been treated? >> Yeah, definitely because it's Manchester United. It's still Manchester United. There's thousands and thousands of managers who are out of work who can't even get interviews when they apply for jobs. So yes, I think there would be managers certainly who would want to go to Manchester United, but I think at the moment Michael Carrick is the manager. It looks like he's going to be the manager for the Bournemouth game. I think he's quite lucky that there isn't an international break this month because usually there is an international uh break in October. But because we had a longer international break, there isn't another one uh till November. But if things don't change then long-term I would be very very worried if I was in Michael Carrick's shoes even though I don't think he is the main