Should Man Utd boss Carrick drop Bruno Fernandes for Bournemouth?

Michael Carrick is never short of advice around how he should do his job as head coach of Manchester United.

Few of his players divide opinion quite so much as skipper Bruno Fernandes.

So, it stands to reason there are a variety of views around whether Fernandes should be dropped for Sunday's vital Premier League game against Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Former Everton and Rangers striker Duncan Ferguson has no doubts.

"It is a big problem for Michael," he told The Overlap podcast. "Put people in the team you trust. Your captain has thrown you under the bus. If you don't think he is playing for you, get him out. I wouldn't pick him even though he is their best player."

Joe Smith, respected host of Manchester United fan channel Stretford Paddock, is of the same opinion.

"I don't think Fernandes should play on the weekend," he said. "I don't think (Lisandro) Martínez should've played against Leeds, because otherwise they're running the ship here."

United fans heading back on flights from Como to Manchester had a view, although much of it was wrapped up in their general thoughts about the club, most of which were negative.

But only one man's opinion really counts. Carrick is the man who picks the team.

His friend and former team-mate Wayne Rooney has a view on that.

"When Martinez came out, I said this is an absolute nightmare because it will rip the dressing room apart," he said on the United Stand podcast.

"That was the start. We've seen it now with Bruno and you're going to see it with more players because they don't want to take responsibility.

"I was in that situation [as manager at Plymouth and Birmingham City] and if I was in Carrick's position now, I'd come out fighting. There's no more Mr Nice Guy."

Carrick, speaking at a news conference on Friday, refused to rule out dropping Fernandes for Sunday's game.

Many observers were shocked to discover Fernandes was not going to be disciplined for his post-match outburst following the 4-1 Champions League defeat by Como. They were also surprised that he would remain as Manchester United skipper, when team-mate Lisandro Martinez was fined for attacking the club hierarchy eight days earlier after the 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid.

"It was an assassination," one source who has worked with Fernandes previously, told BBC Sport of Wednesday's comments.

"It was unprofessional. Michael's team are killing him."

The issue is whether Fernandes went too far in attacking Carrick's tactics for the Como game, then saying it was on the coaching team on the sidelines to spot the problem and change it, not the players.

Fernandes is one of the most knowledgeable members of Carrick's squad when it comes to football tactics, and is desperate to succeed. His comments, made on TNT Sports weren't off the cuff, or said in an emotional state after a defeat, as Lisandro Martinez's were.

Yet there is also sympathy for Fernandes from some at Old Trafford given the 32-year-old carried out 10 post-match interviews after the Como debacle, and also because, while hardly offering a defence of Carrick, the words were less inflammatory when they were spoken as they seem in text form.

It is easy to point to Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager who was a strong advocate of managers needing to have control over their players and wonder how he would have reacted to such a situation. Challenges to his authority tended to end with players leaving the club.

However, you only need to listen to Gordon Strachan recounting instances from Ferguson's time in charge at Aberdeen on 'The Good, The Bad and the Football podcast' to accept some of the Scot's more extreme methods would not be acceptable in the current climate.

United's hierarchy are keen to get away from the cycle of sacking managers, having dismissed Ruben Amorim last season and Erik ten Hag in the one before.

However, there is also a basic truth that Carrick desperately needs to end the present run of seven games without a win. If they fail against Bournemouth it would equal the sorry run of Louis van Gaal in 2015-16, which was the worst since a Ferguson-led side had eight draws and a defeat during the 1988-89 season.

So, with Benjamin Sesko, Kobbie Mainoo and Marcus Rashford all ruled out through injury, can Carrick drop Fernandes even if he wanted to?

The Portuguese's link-up with Youri Tielemans has not flourished as imagined.

And the only goal contributions by last season's PFA player of the year have been a hat-trick and assist in the 5-2 win over Ipswich in August and his strike against Azerbaijan champions Sabah FK on 10 September.

But, as Duncan Ferguson said, he is their best player. Carrick has to make the call. He needs to get it right.

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