Michael Carrick and his Manchester United players walked into the eye of a storm, quite literally, here in northern Italy.

Como may ordinarily be one of the most picturesque regions of Italy but it was hard to make out much of that beautiful scenery amid the torrential conditions. Around six and a half centimetres of rain are forecast to hit the historic lakeside city in the next 24 hours, with severe weather warnings in place and thunder and lightning expected around kick-off time on Wednesday evening.

As a metaphor for the current predicament at Old Trafford, it felt apt.

Carrick joked at the weekend that he had reached for “the headphones” to block out the noise surrounding the club and he could have been forgiven for wanting to slip them back on.

With just two wins from 10 matches this season, United’s manager could really have done without a mounting injury crisis and illness hitting his squad ahead of vital games against Cesc Fàbregas’s Como and Bournemouth on Sunday.

Carrick and United badly need to start winning soon but they must try to overcome Fàbregas’s upwardly mobile side without nine players who are missing through a combination of injury, illness and suspension, including five defenders.

It means Carrick is likely to have to throw Matthijs de Ligt in for his first game in 11 months following a chronic back problem.

Otherwise, it could mean starting youngster Harry Amass at left-back and playing Noussair Mazraoui in central defence alongside Harry Maguire with Luke Shaw, who may be out for at least a couple of weeks, Lisandro Martínez and Patrick Dorgu all injured, Ayden Heaven ill and Leny Yoro suspended after his red card in last week’s 2-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid.

That game, of course, was overshadowed by Martínez’s extraordinary tirade at Jason Wilcox, the United director of football, and the Old Trafford board over transfer policy and a perceived lack of accountability at the top of the club.

A week on, Carrick came into this game having to field more questions about the United hierarchy and player power following scathing criticism of the club from former manager Erik ten Hag in an interview with The Athletic.

Ten Hag had accused Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his executives of “fuelling” a “toxic culture” by giving players too much power and not backing him over certain disciplinary matters. But it was the Dutchman’s specific criticisms of the way the club are run and how the hierarchy operate that are likely to draw more intrigue and scrutiny in the context of the pressure currently on Carrick to reverse United’s dire start to the season.

Ten Hag, who was sacked 116 days after extending his contract, claimed Ratcliffe’s Ineos regime “promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn’t keep.”

Carrick responded to Ten Hag’s accusations by insisting he had encountered “no issues” with the board and felt he had their backing. But it was telling that the manager kept referring to the need for United to start winning matches, for Carrick knows that such support will be severely tested if results do not improve.

“We’ve got to win games of football and that’s what we’re striving to do,” he said. “I don’t need any reassurance. It’s pretty clear. I know the role, I know my responsibilities. I don’t need anyone else to tell me that or tell me when it’s going well or when it needs to be better. I know that myself. I know the realities and I’ve got no problem with that.

“I know we’ve got to win football games for everything to flow and everything to fall into place. That’s the great thing about it – we can do something about it.”

Starting against Como, he will hope. Fàbregas is making a name for himself in management after guiding the once little-known Italian club into the Champions League for the first time in their history after finishing fourth in Serie A last season.

They underlined their threat by beating RB Leipzig 4-1 in their opening Champions League game at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia and, while they lost 3-2 at Feyenoord last week, an attack featuring Argentina’s rising star Nico Paz, Greece striker Tasos Douvikas and Senegal’s Assane Diao may fancy getting at United’s patched-up defence.

It was a problem before the season started and it could become a bigger one now Carrick – who has seen his team keep just one clean sheet this season – is missing so many familiar faces. Defenders aside, Kobbie Mainoo is expected to be out for around another 10 days, forward Marcus Rashford is sidelined with a hip problem he has been managing and there should be a definitive update on Benjamin Sesko later in the week amid a recurrence of a troubling shin injury. Manuel Ugarte is a long-term absentee.

Asked if there were particular regrets United failed to sign a left-back in the summer given the issues there, Carrick struck a diplomatic tone. “When we’ve got injuries at different stages, we can always look at what could have been done, where we could have improved,” he said. “There’s been injuries … and it tends to happen at certain times when it hits you in the same place. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

United are, at least, accustomed to bad weather in Manchester. “We’re kind of used to the rain, so we’ll make the most of it,” Carrick said.

He could really do with some respite from the storm engulfing the club, after all.