MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Michael Carrick and team captain Bruno Fernandes held a meeting to ease tensions following the club’s performance crisis, according to several media reports yesterday.
Carrick and Fernandes met at United’s Carrington training ground in separate talks from a meeting involving the entire squad to find a way out of the team’s current crisis, the Press Association reported.
Fernandes was seen questioning Carrick’s tactics after the 1-4 defeat to Como in the Champions League last week.
The Portuguese midfielder was then dropped from the starting line-up when United faced Bournemouth in the English Premier League (EPL) last Sunday, and instead remained on the bench throughout the match as his team were humiliated 0-3.
However, after the meeting, Fernandes is now considered ready to play against Chelsea away this Saturday, according to media reports.
The defeat to Bournemouth saw United drop to 16th place in the EPL with only one league win this season, which was against newly promoted Ipswich.
Many observers expected Carrick to be sacked following the defeat, but the 45-year-old coach remained in charge of training on Wednesday after the club decided to give him more time to improve the team’s performance.
Fernandes became the second player in two weeks to publicly criticize the team during a post-match interview.
Previously, Lisandro Martinez also targeted criticism of the club’s top management through a controversial interview after the 0-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on October 13.
Carrick took over the team in January and managed to stabilize the club’s situation after the often turbulent Ruben Amorim era, before guiding United to finish the season in third place and return to the Champions League.
The popular former United midfielder was then handed a two-year contract last summer.
However, just five months after signing the contract, Carrick’s position is now a serious concern as United have only won two of 12 matches in all competitions, against Ipswich and Champions League dwarf club Sabah.