Bruno Fernandes questioned Michael Carrick after the loss to Como, but Gary Neville claims what happened during Leeds is the true cause of his irritation.
It is well reported by now that Bruno Fernandes opened a can of worms at Man Utd by questioning Michael Carrick’s approach against Como.
It was followed by Carrick dropping him against Bournemouth, but a line in the sand has been drawn and he’s expected to start against Chelsea.
However, Gary Neville claims that the root of this problem goes back to Leeds, not Como.
Gary Neville decodes Bruno Fernandes vs Leeds
The Leeds game was advertised as a fresh start by Carrick as United were good value for their 1-1 draw, and the players did look up for it.
In the grand scheme of things, that was a good result, and the performance was at least a building block in a season full of nothing.
Fernandes didn’t have the best game against Leeds, but he played for the shirt, and Carrick was impressed with the attitude and application of his players.
As it turns out, Neville believes that the first seeds of discontentment in Fernandes were sown in that very game, and the Como loss was just the sprouting of that feeling.
Speaking on The Overlap, Neville said: “They’ve just gone to Leeds and they’ve effectively played like the underdog Manchester United. They’ve sat behind the ball. They’ve played without a centre forward. They’ve played with Bruno and Tielemans in this sort of what will be a strange position, double false 9.
“He’s sort of sat there thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing here alongside Youri Tielemans in this sort of what would be a false centre forward position. My centre forward is actually not playing!”
Michael Carrick hasn’t utilised Fernandes properly
This is the manager Fernandes broke the Premier League record under, so it feels weird to say that he’s not using the player properly.
However, that sums up the prevailing feeling this season, where Carrick has tried to fix what wasn’t broken, and in the process, messed up everything.
Fernandes has played as the striker, a false 9, a winger on either side, and even in a buildup role in the span of 12 games, just so Carrick can fit other players into the XI.
Instead of building the team around his best player, that player’s qualities have been taken for granted in an effort to get more out of unsuited individuals.
It remains to be seen how he plays against Chelsea, because a “back to the basics” approach is required.