Soccer-Manchester United's under-fire boss Carrick faces tough trip to Chelsea

Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth - Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain - October 25, 2026 Manchester United manager Michael Carrick reacts REUTERS/Chris Radburn

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Manchester United's Michael Carrick may have ⁠been thrown a managerial lifeline despite his team languishing a point above the relegation zone but Saturday's Premier League visit to Chelsea may be ⁠his last chance to arrest an alarming slump.

Carrick's side are on an eight-match winless streak in all competitions as he battles player ‌unrest that led him to drop captain Bruno Fernandes for the 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth.

What Carrick called a "pure football" decision backfired as United imploded and tumbled to 16th, with the forlorn Fernandes watching from the bench -- a defeat that piled more pressure on Carrick even as fans cheered the manager while booing the squad.

Fernandes was benched after criticising United's tactics following a 4-1 Champions League thrashing by ​Como, leaving Carrick facing a dilemma ahead of the clash with fifth-placed Chelsea, who lost at ⁠home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

Should he continue to sideline ⁠his captain or recall his most creative player after United badly missed Fernandes' influence against Bournemouth? The loss left United with seven points from eight matches, a ⁠point ‌above the relegation zone.

Despite sweeping England's Player of the Year honours last season, Fernandes has struggled for form in this campaign, yet United appeared even more toothless without the Portugal international orchestrating play from midfield on Sunday.

"It was a decision based on what we felt was right for the game. That's it," ⁠Carrick told a press conference on Thursday regarding the decision to leave Fernandes on the ​bench.

"Bruno is fully committed to this football club and ‌there are absolutely no issues. We move forward, make decisions as we go and focus on Saturday's game."

He said Fernandes remains captain after ⁠clear-the-air talks.

"My responsibility is to ​the players ... Of course we've spoken. We have meetings. The boys are hungry. We're hurting because we haven't won enough football games. But there is an intensity, an edge, a hunger to do better," Carrick added.

The weekend's other leading fixtures pit the top four teams against each other.

Leaders Manchester City will look to shake off their first league defeat of the season ⁠when they host third-placed Brighton & Hove Albion, while champions Arsenal - still smarting from a League ​Cup exit to a fourth-tier side - visit Liverpool.

Enzo Maresca's City have pressed on with business as usual despite an independent commission finding the club guilty of 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules, which has kept the debate simmering over the legitimacy of their previous titles.

City have always denied wrongdoing and appealed, with sanctions yet to be ⁠announced, and will be focused on the task in hand on Saturday as they look to bounce back from a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa that ended their perfect league start.

Arsenal, who are level on 21 points with City and five above Brighton, face a different kind of hangover on Sunday as they play fourth-placed Liverpool after being dumped out of the League Cup on penalties by Fleetwood Town in the fourth round.

It was one of the biggest upsets in English football in decades, ​leaving manager Mikel Arteta to rue his side's lack of cutting edge against a team standing 18th in League ⁠Two.

While the Spaniard said he could not fault his players' efforts, he will be concerned about the dearth of goals this season compared to their title rivals. Arsenal have ​scored 13 in the Premier League compared to City's 20 and Brighton's 23.

"We have a massive responsibility ‌to carry this badge in the best possible way," Arteta said after the ​Fleetwood defeat.

"It had nothing to do with effort or application or determination to win it, but we lack other things to create a much bigger margin with what we produce, they really should have been shown in the scoreline," he added.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 曼联对阵伯恩茅斯 - 老特拉福德球场，曼彻斯特，英国 - 2026年10月25日 曼联主教练迈克尔·卡里克做出反应 路透社/克里斯·拉德伯恩

10 月 29 日（路透社）——尽管曼联仅比降级区高出 1 分，但主教练迈克尔·卡里克或许还获得了一线生机。然而，周六客场挑战切尔西的英超联赛可能是他阻止球队令人担忧的下滑的最后机会。

卡里克率领的球队在各项赛事中已经连续八场不胜，他正努力应对球员的不满情绪，这导致他在主场0-3负于伯恩茅斯的比赛中弃用了队长布鲁诺·费尔南德斯。

卡里克称之为“纯粹的足球”决定，却适得其反，曼联溃败，跌至第 16 位，沮丧的费尔南德斯只能在替补席上观战——这场失利给卡里克带来了更大的压力，尽管球迷们一边为教练欢呼，一边嘘球队。

在曼联1-4惨败给科莫之后，费尔南德斯批评了曼联的战术，随后被换下场。这使得卡里克在与排名第五的切尔西的比赛前面临着两难的选择，切尔西上周末在主场输给了托特纳姆热刺。

在曼联对阵伯恩茅斯的比赛中，费尔南德斯的缺阵对球队的影响巨大，他应该继续让队长坐板凳，还是应该召回这位最具创造力的球员？这场失利让曼联在八场比赛后仅积七分，比降级区高出一分。

尽管费尔南德斯上赛季包揽了英格兰年度最佳球员的荣誉，但他在本赛季的状态却一直低迷。然而，周日曼联缺少了这位葡萄牙国脚在中场组织进攻，球队的进攻火力似乎更加不足。

卡里克在周四的新闻发布会上谈到让费尔南德斯坐在替补席上的决定时说：“这是一个基于我们认为对比赛有利的决定。就是这样。”

“布鲁诺对这家足球俱乐部忠心耿耿，绝对没有任何问题。我们继续前进，边走边做决定，专注于周六的比赛。”

他表示，经过坦诚的谈话，费尔南德斯将继续担任队长。

“我的责任在于球员们……当然，我们已经沟通过了。我们开过会。小伙子们渴望胜利。我们很沮丧，因为我们赢的比赛不够多。但他们身上有一种激情，一种斗志，一种想要做得更好的渴望，”卡里克补充道。

本周末的其他焦点赛事是排名前四的球队之间的对决。

领头羊曼城将在主场迎战排名第三的布莱顿，力图摆脱本赛季联赛首败的阴影；而卫冕冠军阿森纳——仍然对联赛杯被第四级别球队淘汰耿耿于怀——将客场挑战利物浦。

尽管一个独立委员会认定曼城违反了英超联赛 114 项财务规则，恩佐·马雷斯卡的曼城仍然照常进行着各项事务，这也使得关于他们之前冠军头衔合法性的争论持续不断。

曼城一直否认有任何不当行为并提出上诉，目前尚未公布处罚决定。他们将专注于周六的比赛，力求从 1-2 负于阿斯顿维拉的失利中反弹，那场失利终结了他们联赛的完美开局。

阿森纳目前与曼城同积 21 分，领先布莱顿 5 分。周日，他们将面临另一种宿醉的困扰，因为他们在联赛杯第四轮点球大战中被弗利特伍德镇淘汰，对手是排名第四的利物浦。

这是近几十年来英格兰足球最大的冷门之一，主教练米克尔·阿尔特塔懊恼自己的球队在面对一支在英乙联赛排名第 18 的球队时缺乏临门一脚的能力。

这位西班牙教练表示，他不能责怪球员们的努力，但他对本赛季球队进球数远低于争冠对手感到担忧。阿森纳在英超联赛中仅打入13球，而曼城和布莱顿分别打入20球和23球。

“我们肩负着巨大的责任，要以最好的方式捍卫这枚队徽，”阿尔特塔在输给弗利特伍德后说道。

“这与努力、投入或赢得比赛的决心无关，而是我们缺乏其他方面来创造更大的优势，这些本应在比分上体现出来，”他补充道。

（班加罗尔 Rohith Nair 报道；Ken Ferris 编辑）

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