Joe Cole said Michael Carrick is "not the problem" after Manchester United were beaten 0-4 by Como in the Champions League. United are 22nd in the competition table and have only three points from two matches, while fans turned on Carrick online after the final whistle and he apologised to the travelling support with both arms raised.

Carrick's role in the collapse

Carrick took the blame in public, saying everybody had to take responsibility and that he accepted full responsibility for the performance. Cole was less interested in loading everything on to the manager. Speaking to standard.co.uk, he said the spotlight would fall on Carrick's feet, but added that the club's rot has been there for many years.

Cole also pointed at the squad itself. He said there are a lot of players in that Manchester United squad who are probably not good enough to play for the club, and asked when the criticism reaches the director of football. That is a fair place to put the debate, because the result sits inside a much bigger run of problems, not a single bad night.

The players drew as much criticism as the manager

Dimitar Berbatov was even more direct about the players' response. He said that after a performance like this, people would ask whether the right players are there, whether the manager is right and whether United are going in the right direction, before adding that he did not think everybody was giving their best.

Berbatov also said it did not look that way on the pitch and that it felt like men against kids. United were 3-0 down before the hour mark, and only around 100 of the 700 away fans remained in their seats by then. Peter Schmeichel also questioned the line-up, while Zvonimir Boban's criticism of Bruno Fernandes focused on the midfielder's place at the top end of the club's hierarchy.

The broader numbers are ugly enough without the noise around Carrick. United have gone seven games without a win, sit 22nd in the Champions League table and have taken only three points from two matches. Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui were both part of the selection debate after the collapse against Como, which only sharpened the sense that the issue is larger than one manager.

Sunday's Premier League clash against Bournemouth at Old Trafford is next, and United will go into it with the pressure spreading across the squad, the staff and the club rather than sitting on Carrick alone.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →