Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes says it is ‘frustrating and disappointing’ after his side crashed out of the Carabao Cup following their 1-0 loss to West Ham. United failed to score in front of a home crowd as Manuel Lanzini’s goal inspired West Ham to their first win at Old Trafford since 2007. The Argentinian swept home after Ryan Fredericks roared past Alex Telles on a night when both sides made a combined 21 changes. The result will leave United fans and players frustrated as the club continues the hunt for a first competitive trophy under manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer. One of those to share their frustration was Fernandes. In an Instagram post following the result at Old Trafford,
Bruno Fernandes wrote: “Really frustrating and disappointing to be out of one of the competitions at such an early stage… Time to reflect, to improve and to fight hard for the other competitions.”
Manager Solksjaer made no apologies for fielding an under-strength side as he brought in 11 changes from their weekend game.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “I think you can see by the team selection that we’ve always used this competition when I’ve been here at the club to give minutes for ones who need it because we know it’s a very, very long season. I’ve never actually won this tournament, so that hunt will keep going because it’s a trophy I’d like to have. But we have to make the decisions to have the squad up to speed for the rest of the season and sometimes you have to take risks and make changes and we did. Great to see Alex Telles, of course, back on the pitch. He might have needed 10 or 15 minutes to get into the game. But we started poorly, we finished maybe the last five minutes too open but we had to go for it. 27 shots shows that everyone gave it a good go. Can’t fault the attitude at all. I was pleased with the attitude and then a little bit of good fortune could have gone our way, a little bit more quality, and maybe a decision here or there that we don’t seem to get at the moment.”
