As a result, the Old Trafford top brass are expected to demand a swift turnaround from Carrick, given their track record of sacking head coaches midway through the season for failing to live up to expectations. Erik ten Hag was shown the door in October 2024 following a dismal start, while his successor, Ruben Amorim, was handed his own walking papers in January.

Both of those managers endured public spats with players during their own respective tenures in Greater Manchester, with Ten Hag falling out with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Amorim deeming Marcus Rashford surplus to requirements. And now, it appears as though Carrick is at risk of losing the dressing room - with Fernandes being openly critical of his game plan in the aftermath of Wednesday's game with Como.

The attacking midfielder said: "It's a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, wait for them, but sometimes when you give space to these teams, they get confidence. It's not the first time, we started on the wrong foot, and they scored very early.

"Not much pressure on the ball, not many good movements with the ball, not many things going our way. Conceding early makes us go into the game with a mood of defeat, it's difficult to get out of that, trying to be brave, to have the ball and make something happen. If we are not able to do that, it is going to be very difficult to get out of this situation."

He told the media: "We actually were half-pressed man-to-man in the second-half, then conceding a goal from that. There's a little bit on 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 ain't going to win."

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In response to Fernandes seemingly questioning Carrick's choices, a number of Manchester United fans were quick to call for the Portuguese playmaker to be stripped of his captaincy. One person wrote on X: "Will back Michael Carrick over Bruno Fernandes every single day. Should have the captaincy removed."

A third added: "If Carrick is still here on Sunday then Bruno Fernandes shouldn’t be in the squad. His performances have been diabolical and then to say what he said about tactics is an absolute disgrace from our supposed captain. Strip him of the captaincy and send him packing."

There were several other posts that followed the same sentiment shared online, with Fernandes seemingly now facing a fight to win fans back over.

While the board have consistently put their faith in Carrick despite a slack start to the season, they will likely expect improved results from the Englishman in the coming weeks. That starts with United's next Premier League clash with Bournemouth at home, which is slated for 2pm on Sunday, October 25.