Wayne Rooney was “shocked” to see two Manchester United players in Michael Carrick’s squad for the embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Como on Wednesday.

Carrick is on thin ice as Man Utd have lose five of their opening 11 games in all competitions this season, with the 4-1 defeat to Como on Wednesday particularly damaging given what happened on the pitch and in the aftermath.

The Red Devils were embarrassed by their Serie A hosts, who were competing in the Champions League for the very first time, and captain Bruno Fernandes broke ranks after the game to take aim at Carrick’s tactics.

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Fernandes has been destroyed by pundits in the wake of his comments, with Wayne Rooney branding him and teammate Lisandro Martinez – who hit out at technical director Jason Wilcox last week – “selfish babies”.

Como were, to a man, superior to Man Utd, and ESPN claim ‘senior staff were left shocked at the team’s performance’ and feel there are ‘too many players refusing to take personal responsibility for their own role in the team’s slump’.

They believe that Amad Diallo, who was brought on for Matheus Cunha at half-time, was the only player to ’emerge with any credit’ from the game.

And Rooney’s mind was boggled when he saw two players who had featured in the Under-19s Champions League game earlier on Wednesday included in the first-team squad.

He said on The United Stand: “I watched the Under-19s Champions League game as Kai [Rooney] was on the bench, and when the United lineup came out for the first team, I was shocked that two of the players who played in it [for the U19s] were on the bench.

“It’s mind-boggling to me that a club of Manchester United’s size are having to use two players who have played earlier that day for the youth team.

“That straight away makes you think: ‘Is this where the club’s at? Is this how bad it’s got?’. I think it’s absolutely incredible.

“From that point of view I do feel for Carrick because he’s going into a gun fight with a spudgun.”

Boardroom ‘explosion’ incoming

Asked where Man Utd go from here, Rooney added: “I think there’s going to be an explosion.

“There’s got to be some clarification from the board, whether that’s backing or getting rid of Michael Carrick.

“They have to come out and calm everything down because you can’t have two players in a week having go at the board and the manager.

“And while the manager is under pressure it’s very difficult for him to come out and get that under control.

“The board have to make a decision and clarify that because otherwise it’s going to get worse and worse.”

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