Without a win in seven matches, Carrick has changed things up, playing Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba behind Amad Diallo, Youri Tielemans and Mason Mount, with Bryan Mbeumo up front.
Asked about his selection, the manager told Sky Sports: ‘When you have options it’s always a difficult decision. We have to make the right one for today and the team to get that performance we want.’
On Fernandes being dropped for footballing or other reasons, Carrick said: ‘Pure football.’
A 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League on Wednesday led to Fernandes criticising the work of Carrick and his coaching staff.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, the Portuguese said: ‘It’s a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave a bit of space in behind and then try to get the ball in the first moment to wait for them, to give them the ball.
‘But sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams, they get confident, they have so many bodies behind the ball that make you run a lot which makes people get frustrated.
‘And then, when we recover the ball, the legs and the brain are much more difficult to make it work.’
Bruno Fernandes made pointed comments after Man Utd lost at Como (Picture: TNT)
On whether Carrick got things wrong tactically, Fernandes said: ‘That’s on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable.’
They were strong words from a man who has been United’s best player for some years and were aimed at the manager, rather than Lisandro Martinez’s recent criticism which was aimed at the recruitment team.
Carrick unveiled little about what he had planned in his pre-match press conference ahead of the weekend, but said he would do what is best for Manchester United.
Asked if Fernandes could be dropped or even stripped of the captaincy, Carrick said: ‘The most important thing is the team and the dynamics of the squad and the football club and I always do what is best for the club.’
Pushed again if he will strip Fernandes of the captaincy, Carrick said: ‘Whatever the situation is I will do what is best for the football club.’
He added: ‘If I have spoken to him or I haven’t spoken to him, I don’t think this is the time to go into too much detail.’
Michael Carrick apologised to fans after the 4-1 loss in Como (Picture: Getty Images)
As the news that Fernandes has been dropped emerged, former Red Devils star Ashley Young told Sky Sports that Carrick has done the right thing.
‘I agree with Michael Carrick’s decision,’ he said. ‘It’s a massive decision but there’s no player, a captain or not, who’s bigger than the club.
‘I think the comments in midweek, questioning the manager’s tactics, he’s basically throwing the manager under the bus. I thought it was a disgrace.’
After defeat in Como, Carrick responded to criticism of him by hitting back at the efforts of his players.
‘We actually half-pressed man-to-man the second half and then conceded a goal from that,’ said the manager.
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‘And there’s a little bit on whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don’t run, and you don’t run forward, and you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win.
‘We might win, we might lose, but the way we went about it tonight, I wouldn’t say everyone, but the way we went about it in some ways tonight wasn’t acceptable. And I just wanted to let the fans know that I feel for them, for sure.
‘It wasn’t just the goals, if I’m totally honest. It was the manner and the way we played at times, in the way we went about it, that was the difficult thing to watch for me.’
