Nico Paz needed 120 seconds to frame Manchester United’s evening. The Argentine swept Como ahead inside two minutes at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia on Wednesday, and by the time Jacobo Ramón headed in the fourth on 76 minutes, the travelling support had emptied out of a 13,000-capacity lakeside ground that Como’s own players had never used in European competition before this season. The final score — Como 4, Manchester United 1 — is the sort of result that ends managerial tenures.
What may yet define the night, though, was said afterwards. Bruno Fernandes, substituted on 67 minutes after a thankless shift as a false nine, was asked whether United had been set up to succeed. His answer pointed directly at the bench.
Fernandes aims at the plan, not the players
“It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball,” the captain said. “But sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence.”
Pressed further, he went further. “That’s on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable.”
Carrick’s own post-match assessment located the fault elsewhere. “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,” the head coach said, before apologising to supporters: “I care about this football club as much as anyone, if not more, with the position that I’m in. For us to play in that way is not acceptable.”
Two men, one defeat, two incompatible explanations. A captain publicly declining to accept tactical responsibility is not a minor dressing-room wrinkle at Old Trafford; it is the clearest signal yet that the group no longer believes in the instructions it is being given.
A thin squad meeting a very good team
Carrick had mitigation, and plenty of it. He travelled to Italy without Lisandro Martínez, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Ayden Heaven and Marcus Rashford, with Patrick Dorgu, Benjamin Šeško and Manuel Ugarte all long-term absentees and Leny Yoro serving a suspension for his red card against Atlético Madrid. Matthijs de Ligt’s return after nearly a year out with a back problem was the one genuine boost — and it was De Ligt who stumbled as Anastasios Douvikas made it 2-0 four minutes after the interval.
It is also worth being honest about the opposition. Como are not a soft fixture dressed up as one. Cesc Fàbregas took them to fourth in Serie A last season, opened their first-ever Champions League campaign by beating RB Leipzig 4-1, and lost 3-2 at Feyenoord only after leading. Paz, retained this summer in a deal that preserves Real Madrid’s buy-back option, has started every league match this season and produced two goals and an assist here. Como now have six points from three games. United have three.
Carrick’s half-time changes — Carlos Baleba and Amad Diallo — did not slow Como’s intensity. Diogo Dalot had missed United’s clearest early chance inside 90 seconds. Joshua Zirkzee’s finish in first-half stoppage time of the second period was consolation in the purest sense.
The ground Carrick is standing on
The numbers around him are now severe:
- Winless in seven matches in all competitions — United’s longest such run since November and December 2015, under Louis van Gaal
- Two wins from the first 10 games of 2026-27
- 13th in the Premier League, three points clear of the relegation places
- Three points from three Champions League matchdays, following a 4-0 win over Sabah and a 2-0 defeat at Atlético
The context makes it stranger still. Carrick was handed the job on an interim basis in January after Ruben Amorim’s dismissal, won 11 of 16, dragged United back into the Champions League and was rewarded in May with a permanent contract running to 2028. Six months later the credit from that run has been spent.
The expanded 36-team league phase offers some cushion: eight more fixtures remain, with the top eight going straight to the quarter-finals and ninth to 24th into a play-off round. Roma visit Old Trafford on 3 November, followed by Sporting, Leipzig and Bayern Munich. On paper, qualification is recoverable.
Whether Carrick is the man asked to recover it is a different question, and Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday arrives with his captain’s words still hanging over Carrington. United’s hierarchy sacked a head coach in January for less dysfunction than this. Carrick’s protection was always the goodwill of the comeback he engineered; on a Wednesday night by Lake Como, that goodwill looked exhausted.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
1052 articles published
