Getting battered by Bournemouth at home rarely ends well for a Premier League manager. Now, Manchester United boss Michael Carrick faces mounting pressure after a disastrous performance at Old Trafford.
The Cherries tore Carrick’s Red Devils apart on Sunday. Meanwhile, dropped captain Bruno Fernandes watched from the stands.
The result has raised serious questions about Carrick’s future. His departure now looks increasingly possible, with reports linking Antonio Conte, Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann with the job.
For now, Carrick remains in the Man Utd hot seat. However, Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore believes Sunday’s shambolic display could have serious consequences.
Bournemouth (h) Oct 25
I didn’t watch Michael Carrick’s emotional pre-match press conference. Frankly, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I watched the reaction flood social media. Everyone seemed eager to share their thoughts.
Some takes were good. Others were complete nonsense, naturally. Then there was me, Robert Bore, remembering some truly miserable years as a United supporter.
I missed the relegation battles of the 1970s. However, the late 1980s provided enough misery of their own.
My formative years involved watching another team in red dominate the conversation. Then came those magical Fergie years, when I enjoyed success like an only child on Christmas morning.
Selection box feast
Manchester United collected Premier League titles, European trophies and domestic cups. Those were glorious days, with success arriving before the obligatory television re-run of Star Wars.
Perhaps the Glazer children experience a similar feeling when checking their bank accounts.
There is little point debating United’s owners again. Everyone knows that familiar tale of woe.
Add Ineos and its apparent lack of common sense to the mix. The club now faces another complicated chapter in its ongoing decline.
Until the ownership situation changes, supporters have little reason for optimism.
The squad has also attracted criticism for years. Champions League qualification offered United a golden opportunity to rebuild properly.
That achievement seemed unlikely, which made it all the more welcome. However, midfield arrivals Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba would not solve every problem. United needed much more.
Squad full of expensive mannequins
Years of poor recruitment and wage management have left United with an unbalanced squad. Too many expensive players seem happy to disappear when the team needs them most.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa have shown what effective squad management can achieve. Despite losing key players this summer, they beat Manchester City on Saturday and recorded three wins from three in the Champions League.
Brighton and Brentford offer further examples. Both clubs regularly sell their best players, then reinvest to remain competitive.
United’s soap opera, by contrast, continues.
Bruno Fernandes was dropped after his controversial post-match comments following the midweek defeat to Como. His frustration was understandable, but publicly criticising his manager was a poor decision.
Fernandes has been one of United’s brightest players for years. Nevertheless, his comments appeared to undermine Carrick when the team needed unity.
He didn’t just throw his manager under the bus. He seemed to reverse over him, too.
Bruno not a leader
Fernandes remains a wonderful player, but his leadership deserves scrutiny.
If I were in a trench, I’d prefer him in the one next door. He could wear my colours, but I wouldn’t necessarily trust him to tell me when to charge.
Even his warm-up appeared to attract attention. He left around 30 seconds before his team-mates, seemingly inviting a reaction from the Stretford End.
Fernandes rarely escapes the spotlight, does he?
His performances this season have also fallen short of expectations. Last season’s praise now feels distant, and the captain must do more to justify his status.
The match began predictably. Bournemouth played four quick, one-touch passes through United’s midfield and created a spare man. Fortunately for the hosts, stand-in captain Harry Maguire blocked the resulting threat.
United had entered the visitors’ half only once during the opening six minutes. It was hardly an encouraging start.
Bournemouth domination
Diogo Dalot pushed forward before losing his defensive position. That allowed Rayan to deliver a dangerous cross.
Leny Yoro had made a half-hearted attempt to stop the move earlier. However, he recovered in time to clear the ball over his own crossbar.
Bournemouth controlled the early exchanges.
I glanced up from my screen as Dalot blasted a wild shot over the bar with his left foot. A simple pass across the box looked like the better option.
Then came another mistake in the 24th minute. Dalot played a careless pass towards his own goal and handed possession straight to the opposition.
I’ve almost stopped shaking my head at these moments.
Perhaps I should give him some credit. He certainly tries his best, but his performances still leave plenty to be desired.
Last week, I tried a Championship Manager simulator featuring the 2026/27 squads.
Deadpool interest in Dalot
Naturally, I decided to conduct some market research. After a couple of pre-season games, I placed Dalot on the transfer list.
Interest soon arrived. Brilliant! Which European giant wanted a dynamic international full-back with more than 250 appearances for one of Europe’s biggest clubs?
Wrexham. It was Wrexham.
The club associated with Deadpool topped the list, so I drove Dalot to Wales myself. The fee was £8.5 million, and I felt as though I’d pulled off the deal of the century.
Back at Old Trafford, Ayden Heaven nearly made matters worse. His studs-up challenge forced Evanilson to hurdle the tackle.
The lack of contact spared Heaven a red card, but the referee showed him a yellow. Meanwhile, my imaginary Calamity Button continued flashing red.
The warning proved justified. Bournemouth swung the free-kick towards the far post, where Rayan found acres of space and beat Lammens.
“Sacked in the morning,” sang the visiting supporters.
Honestly, some fans probably believed Carrick’s departure was inevitable before the season even began.
United finally created a threat through Bryan Mbeumo. He forced Đorđe Petrović into a save with a shot towards the far post.
Unfortunately, the resulting corner failed to beat the first defender. Bournemouth cleared the danger without difficulty.
Limp performance
United needed to see this out to half-time without further issue and somehow try and inject some life into this limp-arsed performance.
I glanced at the Calamity Button and it was still bright red, I tapped it on the top to make sure it was still working but it just radiated that ominous fuzzy glow, then it winked at me, then again, then again.
Oh shit.
A ball was just played over the top but Yoro had that in hand, just get rid now.
Then he slipped, dithering about under a bit of pressure to gift the ball to Adrien Truffert who unselfishly squared to Marcus Tavernier to tap home. 0-2. And it didn’t flatter the visitors.
Then the whistle for the break, then the boos. Lots of boos. I booed.
Now the predicament.
Heaven was on thin ice after his stupid yellow that led to the opener and United had the creativity of a drowned rat. Would Carrick turn to his skipper, and perhaps Lisandro Martinez, the other recent nemesis.
Could he turn to them without further damaging his own standing and diluting his message to the dressing room?
Cunha called into action
No, he went for a Brazilian instead, Matheus Cunha tasked with trying to haul his side back into it while Fernandes stomped down the sideline and back to the bench, fiddling with his gloves and with a face like thunder.
Tielemans was sacrificed while Santos somehow remained.
Within 30 seconds it was almost three, firstly Heaven and then Maguire getting into a mess and the offside flag sparing their blushes.
Rayan should have scored a few minutes later but shot straight at Lammens.
I sighed, a resigned huff or inevitability.
Martinez shaken, not stirred
As we approached the hour mark, Fernandes was warming up while Cunha and Mbeumo both fired over the top with half-chances. United needed a goal.
Martinez was brought back into the fold with 25 minutes to go. His first contribution was to almost let Ryan run past him and score.
But the game was put to bed with 20 minutes to go and it was a belter.
Martinez seemed to leave the big clearance punt for Lammens, who was racing out of his box but was never going to beat Evanilson in the race, and the Cherries ace wrapped his foot around the ball from the angle and plumped it in the far corner.
Fernandes was already sat back on the bench.
It was like hitting a baby. With a large stick.
Shea Lacey was readied, which meant no Bruno, so regardless of Carrick’s job status on Monday morning, he had at least made his statement with regard to the Portuguese.
No way back
Maybe it would benefit his replacement. It was probably irrelevant.
What odds on a January transfer?
It was hard to see a way back for either manager or skipper, but in this game of footballers as commodities, it would all be forgotten once the next man was in situ.
The game petered out, leaving United with seven points from eight games, which would surely now be Carrick’s epitaph.
To be fair to him, the fans had his back all game.
Regardless of that announcement, the former midfielder’s status as a United stalwart will remain undiminished.
He left the pitch like a man walking to the gallows while the supporters sang his name.
I hope he went straight into the dressing room and smashed the place to bits.
Badly let down
Whatever your view on team selection or tactics, he has been let down badly both on and off the pitch.
The fact we have no left-back in the absence of the injured (again) Luke Shaw, with Dalot being shunted over when he can’t play on his natural side with any real aplomb, speaks volumes.
Yoro sat out of position at right-back, and was culpable for a goal.
The lack of centre-back quality, no recognised striker in Benjamin Sesko’s absence, and the shite stacked up on the bench.
Which points firmly at the footballing department and, in particular, Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox.
It’s their mess. In any other industry they would already be gone.
We’ve seen this episode before, rinse & repeat as we await the next patsy.
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