It's somewhat ironic that Bruno Fernandes is the captain of Manchester United, because his latest cowardly outburst proves he shouldn't be. He couldn't wait to throw Michael Carrick under the bus following Wednesday's defeat at the hands of Como, shamelessly questioning the manager's tactics rather than accepting blame himself. The midfielder has been widely criticised over those comments, being called a disgrace by Jamie Carragher, and rightly so. What on earth was he thinking?

If you are lucky enough to be made captain of one of the world's biggest clubs, you need to act like one. That means standing tall and accepting responsibility when the going gets tough, not cowering away and throwing the blame at others.

Of course, players are people too and they will have their own private opinions. But as captain, you need to shelve your views and present a united front when dealing with the media.

In this case, Fernandes wasn't acting like a captain. He was acting like a self-serving individual who knows his manager will probably be sacked and wants no part of the blame.

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The abject nature of United's display against Como means the players must shoulder some of the responsibility. That includes Fernandes, who offered nothing against Leeds over the weekend and was even worse on Wednesday night.

The lack of self-awareness from somebody who is supposed to be a leader and a role model is astounding. He constantly moaned and complained at his team-mates while contributing very little to the cause himself.

His main gripe with Carrick's tactical approach was that United didn't set up to play on the front foot, to dominate the game with a watertight high press.

But has he considered that maybe, just maybe, they are no longer the world-beaters they were under Sir Alex Ferguson and won't steamroll teams just by turning up and trying to impose themselves? Shocking, I know.

It's not 2008 any more. United simply aren't a good side. That's hardly a hot take.

Many of their players are not good enough to justify a contract with a club of United's size and stature. Some of them looked like competition winners against Como.

No, the tactics didn't work, but it might've been even worse had United tried to impose themselves on the game and got ripped apart because their players aren't good enough to execute that plan. What would Fernandes have said then?

It's hardly revolutionary to suggest that Carrick hasn't covered himself in glory during his time in permanent charge of the Red Devils.

And given their dreadful form since the start of the season, it's not unreasonable for Fernandes to be angry, but airing dirty laundry in public like he did was never going to achieve anything positive.

Kicking the manager while he's down, as captain of the football club, is nothing short of cowardly, especially when he should be sharing a large portion of the blame himself.