Manchester United have been handed a day to recover after their humiliating 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como, but the pressure on Michael Carrick is growing ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth.
The players will return to training on Friday after their pre-arranged rest day. Their latest European setback has left United 21st in the League Phase table, with one win and two defeats from their opening three matches.
The defeat was United’s heaviest Champions League loss since a 4-0 reverse against Barcelona in November 1994. It also extended their winless run to seven matches in all competitions, with four defeats during that spell.
Captain Bruno Fernandes publicly questioned Carrick’s tactics after the match, while the manager pointed to his players’ running. The disagreement has added to the uncertainty surrounding a team struggling to find its rhythm.
Summer signing Youri Tielemans offered a blunt assessment of the performance in an interview with MUTV.
“Everything was missing,” the midfielder said.
Tielemans said United looked disjointed, struggled to press effectively and made poor decisions in possession. Como were able to play around them too easily, exposing problems that go beyond one disappointing result.
Carrick made no attempt to hide his anger after the final whistle. He walked towards the travelling United supporters at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia to apologise for the performance.
“I’m frustrated, more than frustrated. I’m really angry, to be honest,” he said.
“But you’ve got to move on, you’ve got to deal with what’s next and see what that looks like.”
The United manager admitted there was plenty of work to do before the next match. However, with confidence low and results falling short, his side need more than words to change the mood.
Tielemans also recognised the pain felt by supporters who travelled to Italy.
“The only thing we can do now is apologise. But we can apologise as much as we want, we just need to put the performance out on the pitch and at the moment we aren’t doing that,” he said.
United sit 13th in the Premier League and have won just one league game this season. Their preparations have also been complicated by fitness concerns involving several players, including Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martínez, Ayden Heaven and Benjamin Sesko.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, face AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday before travelling to Old Trafford. United’s day off may help with recovery after their late return from Italy, but the bigger task is restoring belief.
Sunday’s match offers Carrick and his players a chance to stop the slide. Another poor display, however, would deepen the questions surrounding the manager and leave United facing an even tougher road back.
