Bruno Fernandes: Man Utd head coach Michael Carrick and club captain hold clear-the-air talks ahead of Chelsea fixture

Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick and captain Bruno Fernandes have met face to face to clear the air, with both vowing to refocus on turning the club's season around.

Fernandes was an unused substitute after being dropped for the 3-0 defeat against Bournemouth on Sunday after he criticised Carrick's tactics following the 4-1 thrashing at Como in the Champions League.

Carrick had described his reasons for dropping his captain as "pure football".

"Picking the team is always a difficult decision," Carrick told Sky Sports. "We've got to make what we feel is the right one for the team to try to get the performance we want."

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However, Carrick and Fernandes met at United's training ground on Tuesday, Sky Sports News has been told, for an open and frank discussion, with the head coach satisfied the animosity between them is over, although it is not known if the midfielder apologised for his public criticism.

Fernandes is now expected to be in contention for United's Premier League game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

The individual meeting between Carrick and Fernandes was in addition to an all-squad meeting, where there was a renewed determination from all the players and staff that performances have to improve immediately.

There was also a mutual admission, we are told, that there has been a squad-wide underperformance so far this season.

Carrick and the Man Utd players have been given the chance to turn their form around despite the under-pressure head coach thought to be on the brink after Sunday's defeat.

'Fernandes back to his best in training'

Sky Sports News' Danyal Khan at Carrington:

"Bruno Fernandes is absolutely back in contention. From what I understand and what I've been told from sources around Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes has been back to his best in the last 48 hours.

"Now, what does that mean, and how has that come around?

"It was quite out of character, you have to say, for him to come out last week, airing a lot of frustrations after the Como defeat.

"I would also assume that the reaction or lack of by the fans towards him on Sunday, when he's warming up, no shouts of Bruno from around Old Trafford, and then the boos, not just Fernandes, but also the players faced after Michael Carrick had gone down the tunnel.

"What I've been told, Bruno Fernandes has come back to Carrington since Monday. He was here on Monday to receive treatment to maintain his fitness, but since then all has seemingly been back to normal, and that is the message we have received at Manchester United, it is business as usual for everyone involved.

"I imagine he'll have a much bigger part than he did on Sunday against Bournemouth, and he is absolutely back in contention to play for Michael Carrick's side on Saturday."

Neville: Fernandes let himself down - read the room Bruno!

Following the defeat to Bournemouth, Sky Sports' Gary Neville said Fernandes had let himself down.

"Eric Cantona was very unorthodox as a captain," he said. "Roy Keane could sometimes be explosive in his interviews after matches, but they weren't whingers about the tactics, about pressing, or excuse merchants.

"Bruno can't press. To come out and whinge after the game about the manager's tactics, when you've just lost 4-1, and a few thousand fans have paid thousands of pounds to travel over in that far corner and get wet through. I'm sorry, read the room, Bruno.

"This is not a time for whinging, throwing your arms up in the air. This is a time for you to stand up and say, that's not good enough. Be positive. Do something with a positive influence as a captain. But he's not.

"He's gone and basically thrown his manager under the bus the week after [Lisandro] Martinez did the same."

Neville added: "They weren't singing for Bruno Fernandes to come on today, they're backing Michael Carrick. So get in your box. You know where you stand.

"Michael Carrick's won things for the football club on a constant basis, and proven that he can have the humility, the resilience. And Bruno has got that. Bruno has delivered for Manchester United in more ways than any other player in the last 13 years.

"And he's the one player I think you could take back in time, and I think he could play in a Manchester United team in the 90s, in the 2000s because he's massively talented. But he let himself down this week.

"He didn't need to do that, because he's basically stuck the knife into his manager."

What did Fernandes say after Como defeat?

"It's a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave a little space in behind and try to get the ball in the first moment, to wait for them, to give them the ball," said Fernandes.

"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, make people get frustrated, and then obviously when you recover the ball the legs are, and the brain, much more difficult to make it work."

Asked if the tactics were to blame for the defeat, Fernandes replied: "That's on the manager and on the staff to see it, it's not on me.

"I just said, I think sometimes we have to be more brave on the pressure, trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable - as they did to us."

Sky Sports News reported on October 22 that Fernandes would not be stripped of the captaincy for his comments, but at his pre-Bournemouth press conference the following day, Carrick refused to rule out disciplinary measures against Fernandes.

"The most important thing for me is the team and the dynamics in the squad. It is about the football club. Whatever the situation is, I will always do what is best for the football club," he said.

"If I've spoken to him or haven't... this isn't the time to go into details."

Fernandes was the second United player to publicly criticise the club in October after Lisandro Martinez's comments following the Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid.

Martinez said: "I expect more from our technical director [director of football, Jason Wilcox]. We expect more from the top, from upstairs, to bring in more players to compete."

Martinez was not dropped for United's following game, playing 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw at Leeds - but was also benched for the visit of Bournemouth.

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