Bruno Fernandes has been left out of Manchester United's team for Sunday's Premier League game at home to Bournemouth after his public criticism of Michael Carrick. The dispute followed Wednesday's 4-1 defeat in Como, and Carrick did not rule out disciplinary measures at his pre-match press conference.

The captain was already on 7 Premier League appearances this season and had played 639 minutes before the Bournemouth call. He has also contributed 4 league goals and assists, with 3 goals and 1 assist, so this is not a fringe-player omission. It is a direct response to what he said after Como.

Carrick's response

Fernandes questioned the team's pressing plan after the Como defeat, saying: "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. 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."

He then pushed the responsibility upwards, saying: "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's answer in the build-up to Manchester United vs Bournemouth left the door open. "The most important thing for me is the team and the dynamics in the squad. It is about the football club. Whatever the situation is, I will always do what is best for the football club. If I've spoken to him or haven't... this isn't the time to go into details," he said.

United's form around the row

The row lands against a poor run in the league, with United 15th in the Premier League and sitting 20th in the Champions League standings. Their last five league games have brought repeated dropped points, and Bournemouth arrive 17th, so this is not a soft landing for a team already under pressure.

Martinez added to that sense of frustration when he said: "I expect more from our technical director [director of football, Jason Wilcox]. We expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete."

The key detail is still the same one Carrick would not settle on publicly. Fernandes has been dropped, discipline has not been confirmed, and United will find out how hard the manager wants to make his point before the next selection.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →