Fernandes did not wait for the dust to settle. Minutes after the final whistle in Como on Wednesday night, the United captain told reporters the coaching staff’s decision not to press man-to-man had cost his team, and that United had not been brave enough with the ball.

“It’s a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind,” Fernandes said.

“Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high.”

Asked directly whether Carrick had got the plan wrong, he pulled his punches only slightly.

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“That’s on the manager and on the staff to see it, it’s not on me,” Fernandes said.

Como’s opener at 118 seconds

Nico Paz struck twice as Como ran up a 4-0 lead before Joshua Zirkzee pulled one back in stoppage time. Como’s opener arrived inside two minutes.

That start made United the first English team ever to concede inside the opening two minutes of back-to-back major European games, after conceding at 47 seconds against Atletico Madrid in the previous round and at 118 seconds in Como.

Fernandes framed the collapse as a mental problem that follows the early concession.

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“Conceding early makes us go into a game with a mood of defeat, it’s difficult to get out of that,” he said.

Carrick questions his players

Carrick’s answer from the touchline was aimed in a different direction. His first season as United’s permanent head coach has produced a seven-game winless run, and he was not willing to carry the blame alone.

“I’m really angry. For us to play in that way is not acceptable,” Carrick said.

“You can’t turn it on and off and you can’t choose when you want to perform or when you don’t want to perform or when you give absolutely everything or when you maybe don’t.”

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He did concede that the coaching staff needed to look at themselves.

“I’ll definitely look at what we’ve done [as a coaching staff] or if it’s the motivation and the intention and the purpose and the intensity of a game of football you have to bring. We didn’t bring that today,” Carrick said.

Howe linked as pressure builds

Carrick remained in the job the morning after, but reports in the English press have linked the club to former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe as a potential successor, with Antonio Conte mentioned as a contingency option. No announcement has been made.

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