They were soundly beaten against the Champions League newbies. Nico Paz opened up the scoring in the first half, and despite second-half changes, United continued to suffer at the hands of their Italian opponents.

A further three goals came for the hosts in the second period, and while Joshua Zirkzee netted late on, it was firmly too little, too late. It means United have just two wins from 11 matches this season, and if the crisis klaxon hadn't been sounded beforehand, it certainly has now.

Having negotiated a potential problem last weekend with Lisandro Martinez's comments on the club's recruitment, Carrick - should he avoid the sack - will have to deal with the fallout from Bruno Fernandes' public statement. Speaking to TNT Sports, he remarked: "It's a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball... That (whether Carrick and the staff got their tactics wrong)'s on the manager and staff to see, not me."