Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick left Portugal's Bruno Fernandes out of his starting line-up against Bournemouth. The decision means the Red Devils captain is set to start on the bench for the first time in around five years.
Selection call against Bournemouth
GOAL said The Daily Mail reported the decision, and that Carrick took a decisive call to drop his regular captain after the heavy 4-1 defeat away to Como in the Champions League. Not since Carrick dropped him against Villarreal in November 2021 has Fernandes been left out for reasons unrelated to fitness.
Carrick's Friday message
At a press conference on Friday, Carrick said: "The most important thing for me is the team, before anything else."
Carrick said: "I will always do what is in the club's interest."
Fernandes on the Como defeat
After the Como defeat, the United captain said: "This was a decision from the coaching staff not to press the opponent man-to-man, to leave some spaces behind us at times, and to try to win the ball back in the first moment, or to wait for the opponent and give them the ball."
He added: "But when you give these teams the ball too much, they gain confidence, and they have a large number of players behind the ball, which forces you to run a lot and makes the players feel frustrated. And when you finally win the ball back, the legs and the minds become less capable of carrying out what is required."