When a Manchester United star falls out with the manager, the next move is now on Instagram. Fernandes, dropped by Michael Carrick for Sunday’s 0-3 home defeat to Bournemouth, hit “like” on a post about loyalty the following morning, mirroring the passive-aggressive routine Garnacho ran on Ruben Amorim earlier this year.

The post, flagged by Manchester Evening News reporter Steven Railston and picked up by SPORTbible, read: “Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care.”

The timing, roughly 24 hours after the Portuguese midfielder had sat on the bench for all 90 minutes at Old Trafford, was hard to miss.

Bournemouth’s goals came from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson. It was United’s eighth game without a win in all competitions and left them 16th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone.

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The reason Fernandes was out of the side was no mystery. Four days earlier, after a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como on 21 October, he had publicly criticised the game plan, telling reporters it was “a decision from the staff to not press man to man” that let the Italian side build confidence, as quoted by TEAMtalk. Carrick returned fire with the team sheet, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville describing the Fernandes comments as “a direct attack on the manager”.

The precedent Garnacho set

Garnacho ran the same template earlier in 2026. When Amorim was sacked, the winger, by then frozen out of the first team, liked a Fabrizio Romano Instagram post confirming the departure. The move was spotted quickly and read as a goodbye wave from a player who had already made his unhappiness public after the 2025 Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, when he openly questioned Amorim’s selection. Garnacho left for Chelsea in the summer and is currently on loan at Aston Villa.

Railston placed the two episodes side by side. In a post on X, he wrote that Fernandes “let down Michael Carrick and is now doing an impression of Garnacho on social media”.

Carrick’s own position is under strain. After the match he told Sky Sports: “What is next? I don’t know. I’ll always do what’s best for this football club.” Neville said on air that the club was “a mess” and expected a decision on the manager within a day.

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United’s next fixture is away at Chelsea on Saturday 1 November.

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