Steven Gerrard has claimed that Manchester United's dressing room has a "toxic" atmosphere, as doubts grow over the position of head coach Michael Carrick following a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Steven Gerrard has hit out at a number of Manchester United players, including Lisandro Martinez – whom he believes has exhibited "stinky" behavior.

Having experienced life both as a player and manager, Gerrard understands what it means to witness a head coach's departure, and he's now convinced that Michael Carrick has genuinely lost the dressing room's confidence.

The struggles on the field have been exacerbated by off-field controversies. Lisandro Martínez criticized the club's hierarchy following defeat to Atlético Madrid, for which he subsequently issued an apology, before club captain Bruno Fernandes appeared to call into question Carrick's tactical approach and managerial decisions.

"Two of the main senior players have undermined him in the last seven days at Manchester United," he said on The Overlap Daily. "If you go through the squad, they've got some good players. Bruno Fernandes is the best player. I look at him when I watch him and when he's at it, even though I'm a Liverpool fan, he's a pleasure to watch. He does things on the pitch that I did playing in a similar position. He's a terrific footballer, talent-wise.

"But if you go through the squad, the back four: Harry Maguire's had a really good career. Luke Shaw, I played with Luke; he was top in his day. They're not Manchester United players anymore. They should have been moved on quicker.

"Lisandro Martínez, last year, was only interested in the World Cup. He's come back, he's seen that they haven't signed the four or five players that he wants in his world. Selfish, he comes out and speaks, then gets injured, goes off at half-time with a knock and is fit for the next game. That stinks to me.

"You look at the midfield: they've signed a player from Chelsea, £50 million [$67 million], Andrey Santos, not a Manchester United player. So then it goes to recruitment higher up. Why are you signing players that are not good enough to play for Manchester United? These are the only players you can attract now. But he's not a Manchester United player, believe me.

"Fernandes speaking out about the manager's tactics, that shouldn't happen at Manchester United. You look at the sides of the pitch where, when I played against United, they had Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, world-class players. I look at the sides of the pitch now: young Amad Diallo, yeah, hot and cold. He's good, but I haven't seen anything from him this season; he's been injured a lot.

"Nothing comes from the left side, nothing at all. You look at the forwards: Bryan Mbeumo, a good player, probably one of the shining lights of this season. Matheus Cunha's dropped, so what's he doing? Is he not training right? Is he one of the toxic players? They signed him recently, what, 15 months ago? Why is a Brazilian international not starting? So he's not doing something right; he's part of the problem as well.

"Benjamin Sesko is injured at the moment, not good enough. They've just got problems all over the place."

There were expectations that a response would materialize against Bournemouth at the weekend to genuinely galvanize the squad, but the opposite occurred. A 3-0 hammering by the Cherries encapsulated everything that has gone awry for United thus far, and the Old Trafford faithful's reaction proved revealing as they applauded Carrick off while jeering the players.

While the manager's position hangs in the balance, numerous perspectives on the matter have emerged, including Gerrard's assessment of the Red Devils ahead of their clash with Liverpool next month.

"I'll tell you what it [the mood in the locker room] says: it's toxic. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that.

"They're not happy, and that's the reason why something's got to change. There's a part of me that hopes Michael's put out of his misery, because you look at the fixtures coming up: Chelsea, Roma, Aston Villa, who we'll speak about in a bit, who were terrific at the weekend. And then you've got Liverpool, who are starting to find the [Andoni] Iraola way.

"So you look at the next four games, and there's a part of me, because of the respect I've got for Michael... And I'm not defending him as a... I'm not close to Michael Carrick. We don't message each other, we're not friends now; he was my teammate. But Michael is an intelligent footballer, he knows the game, he knows how Manchester United should play, he knows how it should look.

"Of course he's telling those players and giving them that information. I'm sure he wants a really attacking Manchester United team that's really difficult to play against."

Whether Carrick remains in post or departs in the coming days remains uncertain, with Man United afforded a blank midweek that could facilitate a potential change. Nevertheless, whatever decision is taken could prove pivotal to the remainder of the campaign, with Liverpool looming large on the fixture list for the forthcoming encounter in November.