Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has dismissed suggestions that the squad played to rescue manager Michael Carrick, insisting that the players "don't need to save anyone's job." The midfielder's post-match comments followed a sensational Champions League turnaround against Roma, where the Red Devils overturned a 2-0 deficit to claim a remarkable 3-2 victory.
The spirited second-half revival brought an end to an unwelcome sequence of nine games without a win, easing some of the scrutiny surrounding Carrick. United's recovery was triggered on 58 minutes when the 32-year-old Fernandes stepped up to score from the penalty spot. It was the first time the skipper had addressed the media since being dropped to the bench for publicly critiquing Carrick's tactical set-up after their 4-1 loss at Como.
After returning to the starting XI in a Premier League defeat against Chelsea, Fernandes utilized his post-match interview with Amazon Prime to shift the focus toward collective relief rather than managerial speculation. "The club needed that win, the players needed that win," Fernandes explained. "We have been working so hard to get out of this situation all together."
Fernandes also moved to dispel external chatter, addressing the narrative around his benching and his standing with the coaching staff. "It's been tough, there's been a lot of speculation in the media. A lot of lies around many things that have happened between me and the manager, that we have cleared the air, then after that the manager took the decision to put me on the bench because I'm not performing," he said. "Everyone thought that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions. It doesn't change the belief I have of the manager and the staff and every player in this club. It doesn't change my aim to win every game that I have ahead of me."