Carrick sticks with Fernandes as captain before Chelsea trip: 'I don't need assurances'
Carrick had benched Bruno Fernandes after the Portuguese publicly criticised his tactics. Now the Manchester United boss says he remains captain. United visit Chelsea on Saturday.
Archive image · Photo: Matt Janzer from Missoula, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Michael Carrick will keep Bruno Fernandes as Manchester United captain. The Portuguese midfielder criticised his manager's tactics after a Champions League defeat at Como and was then benched for the 3-0 Premier League loss to Bournemouth, with Harry Maguire wearing the armband. According to Sky Sports, manager and player held clear-the-air talks on Tuesday.
"It was a decision for the game. That's it," Carrick told his news conference. "He's the captain of our football club." He added that Fernandes was fully committed to the club. Asked about his own future, Carrick said: "I don't need assurances from anyone."
United are enduring their worst-ever start to a Premier League season, having won just one of their first eight league games. They visit Chelsea on Saturday.