Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes have held clear-the-air talks as Manchester United’s manager and captain attempt to put their differences behind them and revive the club’s season.
Fernandes was dropped for Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth after publicly questioning the tactics used in the Champions League loss at Como. The midfielder remained on the bench throughout that setback.
United now face a trip to Chelsea on Saturday, with Carrick being given time to improve results after crunch discussions over his future.
According to Sky Sports, Carrick and Fernandes met at Carrington on Tuesday for an open and frank conversation, with both committing to concentrate on turning United’s fortunes around.
It remains unclear whether Fernandes apologised for his comments, but he is expected to be in contention for the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Their discussion was accompanied by a meeting involving the whole squad, where players and staff acknowledged that performances must improve.
There was also an acceptance that the squad had fallen below the required standard during a difficult start to the campaign.
The meetings offer Carrick an opportunity to move forward after a period in which his captain’s remarks added to the scrutiny surrounding his position.
Fernandes had questioned United’s approach after their 4-1 defeat at Como, suggesting they had allowed their opponents too much possession and needed to press more aggressively.
“It’s a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave a little space in behind and try to get the ball in the first moment, to wait for them, to give them the ball,” said Fernandes.
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“But sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confident, they have so many bodies behind the ball that make you run a lot, make people get frustrated, and then obviously when you recover the ball the legs are, and the brain, much more difficult to make it work.”
Asked whether the tactics were responsible for the defeat, he added: “That’s on the manager and on the staff to see it, it’s not on me.
“I just said, I think sometimes we have to be more brave on the pressure, trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable – as they did to us.”
Carrick subsequently described leaving Fernandes out against Bournemouth as a decision based on “pure football”.
“Picking the team is always a difficult decision,” he said. “We’ve got to make what we feel is the right one for the team to try to get the performance we want.”
Fernandes was not the only senior player whose comments had caused a stir this month.
Lisandro Martinez had urged the club’s hierarchy to strengthen the squad after the Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid.
The defender played 45 minutes against Leeds in United’s next match but, like Fernandes, was benched against Bournemouth.
Carrick must now decide whether to restore his captain as United seek a response at Chelsea following their latest defeat.
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