Fernandes Says Manchester United Must Be "More Brave" After Como Defeat

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has said his side must be "more brave" after a 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Como won at home at the Sinigaglia Stadium in the third round of matches in Europe's top club competition. Nico Paz scored twice, and Douvikas and Ramon added the others. Fernandes came off the bench for Joshua Zirkzee during the game, which means he was on the pitch for part of the defeat.

Afterwards, Fernandes explained the approach. He said the coaching staff had decided not to press man-to-man, a style where each player marks one opponent. Instead, United left space behind their attack to try to win the ball early. Fernandes said the side did not apply enough pressure and fell into a "mood of defeat", according to Reuters.

Since Michael Carrick took over as manager in January, United have mostly defended in a zonal shape. In zonal defending, players guard an area of the pitch rather than a particular opponent. The team has usually lined up in a 4-2-4 or a 4-4-2, numbers that describe how many players sit in defence, midfield and attack. The 4-2-4 is a shape that Pep Guardiola and Pep Lijnders used at Manchester City, and it helped them win the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. When Enzo Maresca replaced Guardiola, he kept the 4-2-4 for the Community Shield in August, which Arsenal won under Mikel Arteta. A few games later, Maresca moved away from it and towards more man-to-man defending.

Fernandes's comments were the public part of the story. Sky Sports reported that Carrick questioned his players after the match. On Sky's Paper Talk programme, the journalist Henry Winter said he disagreed with Fernandes criticising the manager's tactics in public.

Fernandes has been asked to lead a squad that is still searching for a settled approach. His message was simple, though. United need to take more risks in how they win the ball back, and they need to do it with conviction.