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Michael Carrick kicked off his pre-match news conference before Sunday's defeat at home to Bournemouth with an emotional five-minute address, after which he said he was "100%" the right person to take Manchester United forward.

He refused to discuss his plans for captain Bruno Fernandes after the Portugal international criticised the tactics he employed in a damaging midweek Champions League defeat at Como.

But as soon as the team sheet was revealed, it became clear that Fernandes was being made an example of.

Lisandro Martinez, who had previously criticised the club's hierarchy for failing to back Carrick in the transfer market over the summer, also started the match on the bench, but as a precaution as he returned from an injury.

Despite Carrick's best efforts, United's starting XI failed to respond, putting in another lacklustre display as goals from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson handed the Cherries a deserved victory at Old Trafford.

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Speaking on his podcast after Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford, former United defender Gary Neville shared his fears that Michael Carrick has lost support, with tensions between players and the manager threatening to worsen.

Neville said he has expected problems to emerge this season, but was surprised by how quickly the situation had deteriorated.

"It was my fear this was going to happen this season. I didn't think it'd happen this quickly, but the players were booed off at the end with real anger by the supporters in the Stretford End. Usually the fans are supportive of the players and manager."

Neville also highlighted the reaction to Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martinez, following their recent comments about Carrick and the club's leadership.

"So the fans are telling those players you've turned on your own in the last week."

Neville believes the public criticism could represent only a fraction of what is being said behind closed doors.

"I always say if a footballer speaks out like those two have, you're only getting the one or five per cent of what they're actually thinking. Can you imagine what they're saying in that dressing room? What the toxicity between them all must be like?"

We've had plenty of you getting in touch to have your say on Manchester United - from your thoughts on Michael Carrick to the wider issues at the club.

Here's a look at some of the fan comments we've had so far.

Steven, Matlock: "I hope Carrick resigns. He looks drained. Fighting for a club that isn't willing to fight for him. He has been let down in the summer. What he was given was like giving a chef a welly instead of a knife and asking him to prepare a meal."

Stuart: "As a club United are finished until the Glazers are gone. As a fan we should all boycott home games, but this won’t happen because there are too many tourist fans. Carrick is not to blame and if he is sacked and another manager comes in nothing will change."

Jacob, Oxford: "Footballers get paid too much and don't care about the results. A loss should impact their weekly wage. It will mean more to them and really want to win. I feel players get paid and just don't care."

Steven, Glasgow: "One telling thing from Harry Maguire's post-match interview is him calling his boss Michael. You wouldn't have seen any players from the Fergie era calling him Alex."

Tim, York: "I think it is disingenuous to claim that certain individuals are to blame for the current state of MUFC. The whole club needs resetting, similar to Arsenal in 2019. Much derision at the time, some pathetic attempts to destabilise Arteta, but Trust The Project worked."

It's time for a recap, for anyone who missed this morning's discussion around Manchester United.

There's been plenty to talk about, with questions raised over the club's direction and Michael Carrick's future.

Here's a look at what's been said:

• End approaching for Carrick but Man Utd fans make clear who they blame
• Is the Man Utd squad good enough?
• Bruno Fernandes triggered more questions with social media activity
• Man Utd's managerial nightmare that continues to haunt them
• Gary Neville says accountability must go beyond Carrick

Manchester United

If Michael Carrick stays in his job as Manchester United manager then what awaits him is a tough-looking run of fixtures.

And if he doesn't stay in position then any potential successor will have to hit the ground running.

The Red Devils travel to Chelsea on Saturday, before hosting Roma in the Champions League the following Tuesday.

In-form Aston Villa arrive at Old Trafford on 8 November before the international break.

Things do not get any easier after the break as a trip to Liverpool is next, before an away match against Portuguese side Sporting in the Champions League.

The month is rounded off with a home match against Brentford.

Man Utd's next six fixtures:

• Chelsea (a)
• Roma (h) - Champions League
• Aston Villa (h)
• Liverpool (a)
• Sporting (a) - Champions League
• Brentford (h)

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick brushed off questions about his future when speaking with Sky Sports after Sunday's 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

Carrick on an emotional day at Old Trafford: "The third goal, the fans were there waiting for us to get something in the game second half if we'd got one chance, one goal in the second half they would have been with us. We just couldn't find that moment and that third goal is a killer moment. From that time it was what it was.

"It's obvious to say that - strange mixed emotions of a finish of a game. Not a nice way to end the game."

On the players' emotions: "Tough day for them - we went into the game being rocked a bit and you could feel that on the pitch. They kept going and they're disappointed, they're hurt. The players are feeling it. It's not a nice feeling when you see the disappointment. It is what it is, you have to accept it and that's the situation we're in at the moment.

"It's difficult for me to have a day like this at this club and feel the emotion - the dynamic of what it was like today. Not for me personally, but for Man Utd. It was really mixed today. I feel a lot of responsibility, I've been at the club a long time. It hurts an awful lot to see us going through this at this moment in time."

On leaving Bruno Fernandes on the bench: "There's always times when you're trying to make decisions that are to change the course of play and made a difference but those are the decisions we made today."

On his lap of the pitch at full-time: "It wasn't a farewell from me. I've mixed emotions, I'm feeling it for my players, they're going through a tough spell. Some of it we can help, some of it the situation unravels and the boys are feeling it at the moment. Mixed emotions for the supporters to respond in that way.

"To have that connection with the supporters, it's mixed emotions, it'll take a bit of time to digest but I certainly appreciate their support. The situation is where we are and we haven't had results or performances that have been good enough.

"It's a tough situation, there's no hiding from it. What it looks like and what's next I really don't know. I will always do my best for the football club and I won't change that now. I love what I do and I feel the responsibility - we'll have to wait and see."

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Manchester United reporter

Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes' only involvement at Old Trafford yesterday was in the warm-ups and post-game lap of appreciation to a rapidly emptying Old Trafford, which voiced their displeasure at Michael Carrick's squad in no uncertain manner.

Fernandes is at United's Carrington training ground today, for pre-planned treatment on an injury Portugal coach Jorge Jesus revealed last month the midfielder was carrying.

Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko, Luke Shaw and Manuel Ugarte, who all missed the Bournemouth game through injury, are also there.

So too are chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.

Carrick isn't there as his players have a day off but talks about his position are thought to be continuing.

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Thanks Simon, not your fault but I have just started humming the Disney tune "We Don't Talk About Bruno". Fans of the film Encanto will know the one.

Anyway, we actually do need to talk about Bruno, as he's among the injured players who reported for treatment at Carrington this morning...

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Manchester United reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It is a miserable day weather wise, which just sums up the mood of most Manchester United fans today after successive three-goal hammerings.

Michael Carrick's squad have a day off today, which gives space for the hierarchy to decide what to do about the present situation.

They could of course decide to let Michael Carrick take charge for Saturday's trip to Chelsea, in which case it will be business as usual.

If not, who will take training tomorrow?

Former United midfielder and current Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher took over on an interim basis following Ruben Amorim's dismissal in January.

Fletcher was assisted by former team-mate Jonny Evans, who had resigned his role as United's head of loans, and Travis Binnion, who was the head of the club's academy.

Evans and Binnion subsequently became part of Carrick's coaching team and were confirmed on a permanent basis in the summer.

'Love United, Hate Glazers' is a protest movement that has grown and grown since the family's leveraged takeover of Manchester United in 2005.

The banner is front and centre at protests outside Old Trafford...

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...inside Old Trafford...

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...and at away grounds...

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Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was supposed to help the club move on from that era of protest, but instead those protests are now also being directed towards him...

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrived with the promise of fixing Manchester United.

The Glazers have remained in control, INEOS has reshaped the football operation, and a new leadership structure has been put in place.

The club has been through a lot of change behind the scenes, from cost-cutting and redundancies to changes in senior football personnel.

Recruitment remains under scrutiny, while supporters continue to question the direction of the club and the role of its owners.

Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox are central to the current football structure, with responsibility for the recruitment. Ratcliffe and INEOS, meanwhile, have taken charge of the club itself.

These are different roles with different responsibilities, but they all play a part in how the team operates.

Carrick's results will inevitably determine the level of pressure on him. The bigger question is whether the people who appointed him, built the squad and set the strategy will face consequences.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, speaking on his podcast, questioned whether the club's ongoing problems will once again lead to the manager taking the blame, rather than those responsible for decisions higher up.

Neville was scathing about United's performance, describing it as "a shocker, a nothing of a performance" and accusing players of "switching off and downing tools".

While praising Carrick's integrity and professionalism, Neville questioned whether the manager had been able to get a response from this squad.

Neville's wider concern was the club's repeated failure to get things right at the top, despite numerous managerial changes.

"There has got to be consequences above that," he said. "You can't keep letting the [same] people pick the manager who keep getting it wrong."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford

Manchester United's fans delivered their own verdict on the performance [against Bournemouth] as Michael Carrick disappeared down the tunnel to the dressing room.

After repeatedly singing the former midfielder's name, as soon as he was out of view they turned on the players.

The booing lasted until the last of them, Diogo Dalot, left the pitch. They simply feel they are either not good enough or don't care enough, or both.

But there was more, much more.

The game was less than a minute old when the first anti-Glazer and anti-Sir Jim Ratcliffe songs were heard.

The Glazer family have been public enemy number one among the United faithful ever since their leveraged takeover in 2005.

The debt they initially landed on the club has now grown to over £1.15bn, according to their latest accounts. The amount it has cost in interest is £852m, according to respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble. In the last financial year, the interest payment was £37m, an increase from £34m the previous year.

The argument is, that money could have been used far more productively to sign better players.

There had been hope Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, would change that when he struck a deal with the Glazers to become a minority shareholder on Christmas Eve 2023.

Instead, a succession of decisions have led to major questions over his handling of the club.

Rene Meulensteen
Former Manchester United coach on BBC Radio 5 Live

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning and says the "stability and continuity" that Sir Alex Ferguson built has been replaced by "incompetence and inconsistency".

He said: “Everybody that is close to Man Utd keeps saying the same thing over a number of years now and it’s evidently been there since Sir Alex Ferguson left 13 years ago. You can hardly be complimentary of the things that have happened at Old Trafford in those 13 years.

"The stability and continuity that Sir Alex Ferguson built over so many years, the success that goes with it, the culture that goes with it has all disappeared and replaced by some level of incompetence and inconsistency. Everybody can see that now.”

On the ownership: “You need a person with very strong characteristic personality traits who’s got a very clear vision about how he wants things to be run in and around that first-team football thing.

"But he would run into the same problem as Amorim did, as Carrick did, where you don’t have any say in your transfer window, you don’t get the backing you need and so all the managers will struggle no matter who you put in front.

"The main issues are driven by the ownership and as long as the ownership are still there, because they’ve got Man United in a headlock, nothing will change.”

Manchester United

Image source, Getty Images

With so much discussion around what is going wrong at Old Trafford, it's worth looking at who is actually running the show at Manchester United?

• The Glazer family - majority owners - since June 2005

They retain control of the majority of voting rights, having owned United since 2005. Their leveraged takeover, the debit placed on the club and a perceived lack of investment have fuelled years of supporter protests.

• Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS - majority owners - since February 2024

Ratcliffe bought a stake in 2024 and took control of football operations. Intially welcomed by some supporters as a potential solution to the Glazers' ownership, he has since faced crisitcm over cost-cutting, redunancies, ticket prices and sporting decisions.

• Omar Berrada - chief excecutive - since July 2024

He oversees the club's executive operations, linking the boardroom with the football department.

• Jason Wilcox - director of football - since April 2024

He has a central role in recruitment, squad planning and the wider football structure.

Ultimately, until Manchester United address the problems at every level of the club, from the boardroom to the dugout, the question of who's to blame will continue to circle Old Trafford.

When Simon Stone says that a third dismissal in three seasons would not reflect well on "anyone" - who exactly is the "anyone" he is referring to?

Manchester United supporters, of course, know only too well.

But for those not in the know, here is a rundown of exactly who is in charge at Old Trafford...