Ahead of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Bournemouth on Sunday, Sports Mole's Football Editor Matt Law discusses Michael Carrick's position at Old Trafford.

Matt Law, Football Editor: "Carrick is out of his depth"

We've been here before. Someone put on social media that they thought that was one of the top three worst performances since Sir Alex Ferguson left, the Como game. 

Looking back through the archives of my own memory, it was hard to think of many more just disastrous performances all round in terms of application. 

Every team in the world loses, but it's how you lose, isn't it? The application of the players, the attitude, the quality. This is not an elite football team. 

It's a team that's struggling to get by at the moment. But in those difficult times, you need characters, you need people to run. I felt sorry for Matthijs de Ligt at the back. 

He had some criticism, but it's his first game in almost a year. He was thrown into the team because of the defensive issues. 

As soon as Dalot missed that chance in the first minute, and then Nico Paz scored in the second minute, the first half was bad. 

The performance was already that bad in the first half, and it got even worse after that. The performance against Leeds was good and there was a lot to like about the character of the team and the way they ran. 

But Como were cuter on the ball. They looked like Como had 15 players and Man United had four. They were just chasing shadows the whole game. It was telling at the end of the game when Michael Carrick ignored all the players and went straight over to the away fans. 

Carrick is out of his depth. I've got no qualms with his attitude and the way he wants the team to do well. 

But he's not tactically good enough. We had Tielemans and Fernandes playing almost as a front two against Como, which allowed Como to push up their back four. 

No one was going to run behind them. Tielemans is struggling at the moment and doesn't look fit at all. Why Mbeumo has been moved away from a position he's done well in this season, I can't really understand. 

Cunha got hooked at half-time and something is going on with him at the minute. Kobbie Mainoo's absence in midfield doesn't help. Rashford was out, Shaw was out, Leny Yoro was suspended, someone who has done really well recently. 

The suggestion is that Carrick will be in charge for the Bournemouth game. The staff and players are away from Carrington today, as is normal after a late return from an away European game, so they won't be in until tomorrow. 

I've not seen anything to suggest that Carrick will be sacked this week. They're going to keep him in charge for Bournemouth, but that's not to say they're not looking behind the scenes at potential replacements. 

Fabian Hurzeler has potentially ruled himself out. Unai Emery is a dream appointment. There are suggestions Cesc Fabregas is on that shortlist, but they're not going to get these managers mid-season. 

The ones you can get now are Conte, Eddie Howe has been mentioned, and even Kieran McKenna, but I wouldn't go down that route. 

So it's whether they try and muddle through and hope it turns, then look to get that dream appointment at the end of the season, which would be Emery, Fabregas, or someone of that ilk. 

Or you go down the Eddie Howe or Conte route, and I'm not sure that's the right thing to do at this stage. The problems run deep at Manchester United, the sporting director, the board, major problems. 

It's almost like they've been cursed over the last few years. Victor Lindelof was horrible at Man United and no one argued when he left the club. He's gone elsewhere and he's an absolute Rolls-Royce defender. 

The pressure of the club is so constant that it eats managers and teams alive. That's why Hurzeler has allegedly ruled himself out. He doesn't want to go there, get sacked next year, and find his reputation damaged. 

Look at what happened to Ruben Amorim, one of the brightest coaches in world football at Sporting Lisbon. It takes a long time to get that monkey off your back and move past people criticising you. 

Really difficult time at Man United. Seven without a win, only two wins all season. One of those was against Sabah, one of the poorest teams I've seen at Champions League level. 

The only Premier League game they've won this season was against Ipswich, and that went life and death at times. I've seen bits recently that I liked. 

The Atletico Madrid performance was decent, there was running and application. But the Como game has completely dissipated any positivity surrounding the club of late. 

Bournemouth can cause Manchester United all sorts of problems. United need to score the first goal on Sunday. If they go 1-0 or 2-0 down in this game, I really fear for them. 

Mason Mount came into midfield against Como and really struggled. He epitomises everything that's wrong with Manchester United in recent years, a player on astronomical wages who has contributed next to nothing. 

The Fernandes quotes after the game are not ideal. He was basically criticising Carrick's tactics. 

I liked the way Carrick bit back at him and said they tried to do that in the second half and ended up conceding goals. But Fernandes was waving his arms about all night and then stropped off the pitch when he got substituted. 

Just what you want from your captain. In difficult times, you need captains like Bryan Robson was in the difficult times. Fernandes is a wonderful player and was Player of the Year last season. He's a fabulous footballer, but he's just not a Man United captain. He doesn't have that inner drive to drag the team through difficult times. 

Hopefully there's an upturn in form this weekend against a talented Bournemouth side. Carrick needs to go. They need to move on from Carrick. 

It looks like they're not going to do it this week and they might wait until after the game, which leaves them in a difficult situation. If they go and beat Bournemouth, you can't then sack him the following week. 

So it all feels a little bit muddled. Uncertainty here, uncertainty behind the scenes. Winning football matches is the way to get the fans back on side. So if they go and beat Bournemouth, there's a bit of positivity. 

But Carrick needs to be moved on and the players need to start running and fighting for the team rather than feeling sorry for themselves.

You'd have to think long-term for the captaincy. I'm going to throw a curveball into the mix and go Leny Yoro. Leny Yoro is potentially going to be there for the next ten years. 

Dalot would be a player in the mix, but Dalot has been really bad this season and I'd move him on. Looking through the team on a long-term basis, Leny Yoro is my answer. 

He's not going to get the armband in reality, but I'd give it to someone like that, who you know is going to be there for the next few years. 

There's a lack of characters in this team, a lack of players who have the ability to lead. They're all looking around and feeling sorry for themselves, and that gets you nowhere. If you go through tough times, feeling sorry for yourself is going to do nothing. 

You have to fight your way through it, and I question whether they've got the characters to do that at the moment.