Michael Carrick makes shock Bruno Fernandes claim after dropping Man Utd captain

Fernandes has been left out of Man Utd’s starting line-up against Bournemouth days after his questioned United’s tactics for Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat by Como, which was Man Utd’s seventh consecutive game without a win. Carrick apologised to supporters after the loss and has now made the decision to start Fernandes on the bench for Sunday’s Premier League fixture at Old Trafford.

Fernandes told TNT Sports after the Como defeat that it was “a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man”.

“I think sometimes we have to be more brave under pressure, take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable, as they did to us,” he added. “The centre-back was coming to mark me all the way into my own half. I think sometimes we had to do that as a team and we were not really able to do it.”

Carrick told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Friday of the importance of unity and putting the club above any individual.

Asked at the same time if he would strip Fernandes of the captaincy, Carrick said: “I’ll always do what’s best for the football club. If I’ve spoken to (Fernandes) or haven’t spoken to him, I don’t think this is the time to go into too much detail.”

Asked on Sunday if Fernandes had been dropped for football reasons or something else, Carrick told Sky Sports: “Pure football.”

"When you have options it's always a difficult decision,” he said. “We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want."

Sunday marks the first Premier League match this season in which Fernandes has started on the bench. He has scored four goals in 11 appearances across all competitions.

Regarding the rest of his team selection, Carrick said Lisandro Martinez was “not quite” fit enough to start, adding: “Touch and go and it wasn't worth the risk. Ayden [Heaven] has been ill at the start of the week and played welk when he's played for us. I'm happy with the team, strong options on the bench. We need a good performance today.

"Any performance at any level at this club or anywhere you need to play with all that [resilience and determination] to get a result. Bournemouth are a good team and we'll need to be at our best today.

"It's the next game for us. We have prepared like we would for any other game. The run we have been on we want to flip things. We want to win a football match and today is a good day to try and for that."