Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has ripped into Bruno Fernandes following his criticism of Michael Carrick earlier this week, which has piled further pressure on the manager.

Fernandes took aim at Carrick’s tactics following the Red Devils’ embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday – a controversial moment that has surprisingly gone unpunished.

This is the second time a senior Man Utd player has taken aim at club chiefs recently, with Lisandro Martinez criticising the club’s recruitment over the summer, too.

Former Man Utd striker Rooney criticised Martinez’s comments at the time, and he believes Fernandes’ actions are equally wrong.

“When Martinez came out, I said this is an absolute nightmare because it will rip the dressing room apart; that was the start. We’ve seen it now with Bruno, and you’re going to see it with more players because they don’t want to take responsibility,” Rooney said on The United Stand.

“You can say whether Bruno was right or wrong in what he said, but you have to take responsibility on the pitch; you have to take responsibility as a group of players.

“These players, they’re selfish. They don’t care about their team-mates, the manager, the staff, or the fans.

Bruno Fernandes ‘doesn’t want to face the pressure’

Rooney has accused Fernandes of making life more difficult for his former teammate, Carrick.

Carrick is under enormous pressure and the club are already looking at potential replacements, though he will take charge when Man Utd play Bournemouth on Sunday.

The club are reportedly in ‘civil war’ over who could replace the manager, with director of recruitment Christopher Vivell favouring Julian Nagelsmann, while director of football Jason Wilcox wants someone with Premier League experience.

Fabian Hurzeler and Unai Emery have both been discussed but look unlikely to join mid-season, leaving Eddie Howe and Antonio Conte as the likely candidates for Wilcox.

“He is putting pressure on someone else because he doesn’t want to face it,” Rooney added regarding Fernandes’ comments.

“If he looks at himself in the mirror, if Martinez and all of them looked at themselves in the mirror, they’ll find what’s looking back at them is them, and that’s not good enough; they need to show more.”

While the message from Man Utd is that it will be business as usual this weekend, the game against Bournemouth is one of the biggest in Carrick’s managerial career.