The sharpest line in Neville’s verdict on Sunday’s 0-3 home defeat to Bournemouth was not about tactics or team selection. It was about lifestyle.

Speaking on his podcast, the former United captain told Sky Sports that basic standards had slipped inside the dressing room, with how players sleep and what they eat among the problems.

“A few of them aren’t that professional. There’s a few of them that don’t go to bed at the right time, don’t eat the right things,” Neville said.

He went further on the players’ treatment of Carrick, who faces imminent dismissal after an eight-match winless run, with the formal announcement held up by the club’s New York Stock Exchange disclosure rules.

Read also: ‘It’s not my time yet’: Alexander-Arnold wants Real Madrid to work, not a Liverpool rescue

“They’ve teased him, haven’t they? They’ve conned him for a few months,” Neville said, as reported by TeamTalk.

He added that the head coach’s view of the squad would now be scathing: Carrick, he said, “will look at those players with disgust”.

Fernandes ‘whinge’ after Como loss

Neville reserved a particular blast for Bruno Fernandes, who was left out of Carrick’s team for Bournemouth and remained an unused substitute. The captain had publicly questioned the manager’s tactics after United’s 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como earlier in the week.

Via SportBible’s account of the podcast, Neville told Fernandes to look around before complaining.

Read also: “Utterly appalled”: IOC’s Russia decision sparks fury ahead of LA Olympics

“Bruno can’t press. To come out and whinge after the game about the manager’s tactics…read the room, Bruno,” he said.

Neville said the public criticism from the captain hinted at something worse behind closed doors, calling the dressing-room atmosphere horrific if the skipper was willing to turn on Carrick in front of the cameras.

He also singled out Leny Yoro and Diogo Dalot, telling SportBible they were not of the level required to play for Manchester United.

‘They are nothing, some of those players’

Neville framed the behaviour as a pattern that has outlasted several managers.

Read also: Harry Kane’s Ballon d’Or victory takes surprising turn as new voting details emerge

“They are nothing, some of those players,” he said, according to Football365, pointing to a line of coaches from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Ruben Amorim who have failed to lift the same core squad.

United sit 16th in the Premier League on seven points, their worst start to a season in more than 40 years.

Howe the favourite to replace Carrick

Eddie Howe, out of work since leaving Newcastle at the end of July, has emerged as the favourite to replace Carrick, with Julian Nagelsmann also under consideration. United’s next Premier League fixture is against Chelsea on Saturday.

Read also: Eddie Howe’s Man Utd move comes with a catch – and Newcastle stand to benefit