Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has dropped Bruno Fernandes to the bench for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Bournemouth to Old Trafford, following his skipper’s public criticism of his tactics in the midweek Champions League loss at Como.

The Red Devils crashed to a 4-1 defeat in northern Italy to extend their winless run to seven games in all competitions and heap more pressure on Carrick‘s position.

The last thing he would have needed was for his captain to comment on his supposed shortcomings, but that is exactly what Fernandez did – a move that United legend Wayne Rooney hammered him for.

Although Carrick stopped short of stripping Fernandes of the captaincy, he insisted that he was only interested in what is good for the team ahead of the Bournemouth clash.

Well, he clearly feels that Fernandes starting from the bench is what a struggling United team needs right, with Carrick making his very own statement on Sunday.

Lisandro Martinez is also on the bench, too, after picking up a knock last weekend and missing out on the Champions League game.

Amad and Carlos Baleba also come in to the United side, with Matthijs de Ligt and Matheus Cunha also on the bench alongside Noussair Mazraoui.

Harry Maguire will captain the side in what could be a back three, with Mason Mount the natural Fernandes replacement.

Carrick admits Fernandes axing decision is ‘pure football’

Speaking about his decision to drop Fernandez down to the bench, Carrick said: “When you have options it’s always a difficult decision. We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want.

In terms of whether Fernandes was dropped for football reasons or other, he added: “Pure football.”

On Lisandro Martinez, who was heavily critical of the club’s recruitment team after the draw at Leeds last weekend, being on the bench, Carrick added: “Not quite [fit enough] – touch and go and it wasn’t worth the risk.

“Aiden [Heaven] has been ill at the start of the week and played well when he’s played for us. I’m happy with the team, strong options on the bench. We need a good performance today.

“Any performance at any level at this club or anywhere you need to play with all that [resilience, determination] to get a result. Bournemouth are a good team and we’ll need to be at our best today.

“It’s the next game for us. We have prepared like we would for ay other game. The run we have been on we want to flip things. We want to win a football match and today is a good day to try and for that.”