"Carrick told us not to press against Como" - Bruno Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes says Michael Carrick told his players not to press against Como, a decision that left the Red Devils clueless in a 4-1 defea...

Bruno Fernandes says Michael Carrick told his players not to press against Como, a decision that left the Red Devils clueless in a 4-1 defeat. (Photo credit: GOAL)

Manchester United fell badly to Como on Wednesday night, leading to contrasting feelings in the post-match pressers from both clubs' managers.

Bruno Fernandes openly questioned Michael Carrick's instructions as the reason why the Red Devils failed to press aggressively against Como, a statement the former Manchester United and Tottenham midfielder echoed in his presser.

"It's a decision from the staff not to press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball; wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams, they get confidence.

That's on the manager and staff to see, not me. Sometimes, you have to be braver under pressure and take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable. As you saw, their centre-back came to mark me in our half. We need to do that as a team, but we were not able to.

A team that plays through the middle with small connections can hurt you out wide if you give them too much time and space. Carrick didn't deny Bruno's allegations, which makes one wonder what the plan is going forward if you set up to allow the opposition to run you ragged.

In a sharp contrast, Como head coach Cesc Fabregas has regretted asking his players to slow down in the final ten minutes of the game with a 4-0 lead. With another game coming up at the weekend, the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder thought his players should slow down.

"I regret the last 10 minutes because I was the one who told the team to slow down the tempo because there's another match, and at 4-0 we could manage things a little.

I told the players to stop running and stay in the middle, and that is something I regret because I'm the first to always push them to fight until the end.

Their goal hurt me because we dropped our intensity and dropped our defensive block, but it was my fault." The contrasting feelings of the two managers show the gulf in ambition, but where does Michael Carrick go from here?

On the flip side, Lisandro Martinez was cautioned by the club for calling out the club hierarchy following their 2-0 loss at Atletico Madrid, will Bruno Fernandes be punished for his outburst too?