After 4-1 Defeat to Como, United Coach Carrick Puts His Own Players in the Dock

Manchester United are going through a bad spell this season. After a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday night, coach Michael Carrick has now levelled accusations against his own players after the match.

United have played 11 matches so far this season and won only two of them. After a series of defeats and draws, Carrick's team now sit 13th in the Premier League.

Last month they were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup. As a result, failure after failure early in the season is increasing the pressure on the whole team.

This heavy defeat to Italian club Como has thrown Michael Carrick's future as Manchester United manager into uncertainty. Various questions about him are circulating in football circles.

He has also had to face questions about how long he will remain United coach. But above everything else, it is his team's players who now stand in his dock.

At the post-match press conference, Carrick said: "I have not given any thought to my own position. Results in a game can be good or bad. But I can say for certain that I have given everything that was possible from my side."

He added that all his thoughts are for the supporters; he himself was watching the game as one of them. He also said he was not at all satisfied with what he saw.

Asked how the players are performing, Carrick's answer was blunt. He said: "Whatever tactics you play with, if you don't run on the pitch, if you don't run up and down, then it is never possible to win a match."

The coach's comments make it clear that, beyond tactics, he sees the players' lack of effort and running on the pitch as a major cause of the defeat. Whatever the tactics, without basic effort there are no results — that is his message.

The supporters' frustration is also growing amid the team's plight. A 13th-place position in the league and elimination from the cup — this picture of the season is hard for fans of the traditional club to accept.

All eyes are now on United's next matches. Alongside the questions over Carrick's future, it remains to be seen whether the players can answer the coach's public criticism with their performance on the pitch.