Carrick questions United players' effort after 4-1 Champions League collapse at Como

Michael Carrick delivered a scathing assessment of his Manchester United players after they were beaten 4-1 by Como in the Champions League, publicly questioning their effort levels and firing back at captain Bruno Fernandes, who had criticised the team’s tactical approach in a post-match interview.

United were 1-0 down at half-time, at which point Carrick made a double substitution, but the changes failed to arrest the slide as his side collapsed after the break. Joshua Zirkzee scored a late consolation, but the damage was already done.

In a tense post-match press conference, Carrick apologised to the travelling supporters — having already walked over to the away end at full time to do so in person — before turning his frustration on the performance itself.

“We might win, we might lose, but the way we went about it tonight, I wouldn’t say everyone, but the way we went about it in some ways tonight wasn’t acceptable,” Carrick said. “It wasn’t just the goals, if I’m totally honest. It was the manner and the way we played at times, in the way we went about it, that was the difficult thing to watch for me.”

Fernandes had used a post-match TV interview to question how Carrick and his staff had set the team up, but the head coach was in no mood to absorb the criticism without response. He pointed instead to a lack of running as the root cause of the defeat.

“We actually half-pressed man-to-man the second half and then conceded a goal from that,” Carrick said. “And there’s a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win.”

When pressed on whether his players were still performing for him, Carrick redirected the question toward the club’s broader responsibility. “It’s not about playing for me, it’s about playing for this football club,” he said. “I’m responsible for the football club and the supporters. I’m giving my best, absolute best all the time.”

Asked directly whether his players were doing the same, Carrick gave a pointed answer: “I’d like to think so. I didn’t like what I saw tonight, though.”