Como beat Manchester United 4-1 as questions grow over Carrick's future

Como 1907 vs Manchester United F.C. standings

Manchester United’s 4-1 Champions League defeat by Como has intensified questions over Michael Carrick’s position, while captain Bruno Fernandes publicly criticised the team’s approach after the loss.

The result left United with seven matches without a win, their longest run since they went eight games without victory under Louis van Gaal between 25 November and 28 December 2015. Carrick was also asked about his future after one of the most humiliating European nights in the club’s history.

Como expose United’s defensive problems

Como’s first goal arrived after 118 seconds, with Nico Paz opening the scoring. Goal.com described the opening as coming from a simple goal kick, after Lucas Da Cunha passed to Paz, Harry Maguire stood off and the ball slipped out of the goalkeeper’s hands.

United had already conceded an early goal after 47 seconds in Madrid the previous week, according to Goal.com. The repeated vulnerability at the start of matches added to the sense that the team’s defensive problems were becoming a pattern rather than an isolated lapse.

Como’s attacking display then grew in authority as the match progressed. Paz created Como’s second goal and scored a third before the hour mark, according to the reports.

The BBC reported that Paz opened the scoring, created the second goal and added the third. Goal.com said his third goal was the moment when Carrick slumped and retreated to the bench, away from the cameras.

Joshua Zirkzee scored a stoppage-time consolation for United. The goal prevented the defeat from becoming United’s joint second-worst European loss and spared them their heaviest European defeat since 1994, according to the two reports.

United ended the first half without a shot on target, in what Goal.com described as a lacklustre performance without vitality. The report said the display led many to view the match as a possible knockout blow to Carrick’s time as manager.

Fernandes questions the tactical approach

Fernandes challenged the decision by the staff not to press Como man to man. Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, the United captain said the approach sometimes left space behind and allowed Como to gain confidence when United gave them too much of the ball.

“It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, but sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence,” Fernandes said.

When he was asked directly whether Carrick had got the tactics wrong, Fernandes replied: “That’s on the manager and staff to see it, not me.” He added that United sometimes had to be braver under pressure by pressing high and making the opposition uncomfortable.

The comments placed the tactical responsibility directly before Carrick and his staff, even though Fernandes did not explicitly say that the manager should leave. Fernandes is described as a football obsessive who regularly watches matches and understands the tactical side of the game as well as any player in the United squad.

Carrick’s response was brief when he was told about Fernandes’ criticism during his post-match press conference. “There’s a little bit of whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you aren’t going to win,” Carrick said.

The answer shifted the focus from the chosen formation or pressing plan to the players’ effort and movement. It also showed the tension surrounding a performance that Carrick himself described as unacceptable.

Carrick accepts responsibility but avoids future question

Carrick apologised to United’s 700 travelling fans after the match. The BBC reported that he ignored his beaten players after the final whistle, walked across the pitch and repeatedly held his hands up in a gesture similar to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s response after a 4-1 defeat at Watford in November 2021.

Solskjaer was dismissed as United manager 24 hours after that Watford defeat, according to the BBC. The comparison added to the speculation surrounding Carrick, although the report said it remained to be seen whether United’s position on him would change before the Bournemouth match.

Carrick refused to answer questions about his own future. Instead, he said that he had to apologise to the supporters and that he cared about the club as much as anyone, “if not more”, because of the position he held and what he valued about United.

“For us to play in that way is not acceptable,” Carrick said. He explained that he always went over to the fans, regardless of the result, and that his gesture was an acknowledgement of what they had endured and done over a period of weeks.

Carrick said he had been one of the supporters watching the performance and was feeling the same as them. He said United might win or lose, but the way they had played in Como was unacceptable.

“I’ve not given my own position any thought - this is for the supporters - I was one of them watching that and I wasn’t happy all,” Carrick said. He later described himself as “bitterly disappointed” by the performance.

The manager also said that the manner of the defeat troubled him as much as the goals. “It wasn’t just the goals, if I’m totally honest,” he said, adding that it was “the manner and way we played at times.”

Carrick said he was giving his absolute best and that his whole life was wrapped around the club. “It might go well, it might not go so well, but I genuinely give everything that I possibly can,” he said.

A seven-match winless run increases the pressure

Carrick guided United to 12 wins in 17 matches last season and helped them return to the Champions League after a two-year absence. He was then given a two-year contract.

The current campaign has unravelled sharply, according to the BBC. United are 13th in the Premier League, three points clear of bottom club Sunderland.

United recovered from an opening-day defeat by newly promoted Hull by coming from behind to beat Ipswich the following week. They have not won in the Premier League since that recovery.

Their only other success in 11 matches in all competitions came against Azerbaijan champions Sabah FK in the Champions League. The defeat by Como extended the winless run to seven games.

That sequence is United’s worst since the eight-match run under Van Gaal in 2015. Goal.com said the comparison was particularly damaging because Van Gaal was given a reprieve of nearly five months before he left the club.

The same report questioned whether Carrick would even be given five days after the Como defeat. That assessment reflected the scale of the loss and the pressure already mounting from supporters and the board.

The BBC also said that the new campaign had unravelled in a manner similar to the period before Solskjaer’s dismissal five years earlier. The club’s immediate decision over Carrick would therefore come under scrutiny before the next Premier League fixture.

Team selection becomes another issue

Goal.com said Carrick did not bear sole responsibility for United’s decline. The report said the club had failed to provide key signings during the summer window, particularly a second striker and a new left-back.

Those absences had been costly, according to the report. At the same time, Goal.com said the current squad was better than the one that finished last season in third place, and that Carrick had made several selection errors in fewer than 12 matches.

The decision to use Fernandes as a false nine was described as the latest experiment. It lasted only through the first half.

Fernandes had played on the wings in the previous week’s match. Against Como, he replaced Bryan Mbeumo, who had scored two goals in his previous three matches as an out-and-out striker.

The change also affected Youri Tielemans. Goal.com said Tielemans had shown creativity in the playmaker role against Atlético Madrid and Leeds when he was supplying Mbeumo, but that his influence disappeared after Fernandes was moved into the central attacking position.

Fernandes was substituted in the 67th minute. By then, the match was already settled, and Goal.com said Carrick showed little interest thereafter.

Other early moments also underlined United’s problems. Diogo Dalot wasted a chance in the second minute after the ball rolled invitingly in front of him.

Como then scored from a basic restart, according to Goal.com. Lucas Da Cunha found Paz, Maguire stood inexplicably off, and the ball slipped from the goalkeeper’s hands.

Noussair Mazraoui reacted by slapping his thighs in anger. Mason Mount rebuked Maguire, while Carrick remained frozen for much of the opening 20 minutes before having a heated discussion with Matheus Cunha.

Supporters’ anger grows during the defeat

United fans began chanting “attack, attack, attack” three minutes after kick-off. Goal.com described the chant as another expression of the anger that has followed the team through the season.

Kobbie Mainoo’s substitution had previously been met with jeers during the match against Fulham. Jeers also accompanied the home draw against Tottenham.

Como supporters added to the pressure by chanting to the tune of “you’ll be sacked in the morning”. Goal.com presented the chant as a reflection of the possibility that United’s own supporters might have been thinking along similar lines.

The atmosphere in Italy was described as stormy from the outset. United’s first-half failure to register a shot on target deepened the impression that the team lacked energy and belief.

United supporters also sang against the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe as the evening deteriorated. The reaction showed that the frustration was not directed only at the manager or the players.

Some supporters and observers have partly absolved Carrick and sporting director Jason Wilcox of responsibility for the club’s problems. Carrick was viewed by some as having been badly let down in the summer transfer window.

United signed three midfielders but did not bring in competition for Luke Shaw at left-back or Benjamin Sesko in attack, according to the BBC. Wilcox was also given some protection because he had to work within a budget set by people above him, including chief executive Omar Berrada.

Como’s rise makes the loss more damaging

The defeat was made more embarrassing by the contrast between the clubs’ recent European histories. When Manchester United were last crowned European champions in 2008, Como were playing semi-professional football in front of a couple of hundred spectators in Serie D.

That comparison gave the result a wider context beyond the scoreline. Como had not merely beaten United; they had done so with a performance that exposed the English club’s defensive gaps, tactical uncertainty and lack of fighting spirit, according to Goal.com.

Paz’s display further highlighted the difference between the teams on the night. The BBC said that if Paz wanted to leave Como, virtually every major European club would want to sign him and United’s chances of securing him would be virtually nonexistent.

Goal.com identified the Como side as being coached by Cesc Fàbregas. The report said the Italian team’s victory exposed United’s fragility and loss of fighting spirit.

The defeat therefore placed pressure on both Carrick’s position and the club’s broader football structure. The reports linked that pressure to the summer recruitment, the budget available to Wilcox and the team’s repeated tactical and defensive failures.

Bournemouth awaits as Carrick’s position remains uncertain

United flew straight back to Manchester after the Como match. Their next Premier League fixture is against 15th-placed Bournemouth on Sunday.

The match carries an additional historical warning for United. Before last season’s 4-4 draw, Bournemouth had recorded 3-0 victories on their previous two visits to Old Trafford.

United will therefore face the next test while sitting 13th in the Premier League and carrying a seven-match winless run. Carrick’s refusal to discuss his position left the club’s next decision unresolved.

His immediate response has been to accept responsibility for the performance and defend his commitment to United. Fernandes’ comments, however, ensured that the tactical argument around the defeat would remain part of the scrutiny.

The Como loss has left United facing questions about the manager, the squad assembled around him and the club’s direction under pressure from supporters and the board. The next decision will determine whether Carrick is given another opportunity or whether the defeat has brought his tenure to an end.