After Manchester United lost 4-1 to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday, Bruno Fernandes criticised the team's approach. Michael Carrick then said those comments were not accurate and said some aspects of the performance were not acceptable.
Fernandes questions the approach
The Manchester United captain said after the match: "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."
On whether he is saying Michael Carrick got his tactics wrong, Fernandes said: "That’s on the manager and staff to see, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw with them, the centre-back was coming to mark me in my own half. We need to do that as a team but we were unable to."
Fernandes also said: "A team that plays through the middle with small connections, if you give them too much time and space then they can hurt you out wide."
Carrick rejects that account
Carrick told reporters in his press conference: "We actually half-pressed man-to-man the second half and then conceded a goal from that."
He also said: "And there’s a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win."
Carrick on the display and supporters
Carrick said: "We might win, we might lose, but the way we went about it tonight, I wouldn’t say everyone, but the way we went about it in some ways tonight wasn’t acceptable. And I just wanted to let the fans know that I feel for them, for sure."
He added: "It wasn’t just the goals, if I’m totally honest. It was the manner and the way we played at times, in the way we went about it, that was the difficult thing to watch for me."
Carrick also said: "It’s not about playing for me, it’s about playing for this football club. It’s the responsibility that comes with being in the position; I’m responsible for the football club and the supporters."
He said: "I’m giving my best, absolute best all the time, I care about it. My whole life’s wrapped around it. I genuinely give everything that I possibly can."
Scoreline and reported scorers
Manchester United lost 4-1 to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday. Football365 reported that Nico Paz scored two goals for Como, with Anastasios Douvikas and Jacobo Ramón also on target.