Last week, United lost 3-0 to Bournemouth at Old Trafford with their captain Fernandes sitting on the bench the whole game. United boss Carrick seemed to have punished the Portuguese player for criticising the team’s tactics after the Champions League defeat to Italy’s Como.

“Picking the team is always a difficult decision,” Carrick told Sky Sports before the game. “We’ve got to make what we feel is the right one for the team to try to get the performance we want.” Carrick then went on to state that his reason for dropping his captain was “pure football.”

After United had lost 1-4 to Como, Fernandes was asked in the post-match if the tactics were to blame for the defeat. He replied: “That’s on the manager and on the staff to see it; it’s not on me.

“I just said, I think sometimes we have to be more brave on the pressure, trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable — as they did to us.”

Carrick had responded at that time by saying “whatever tactics you play, if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you aren’t going to win.”