A number of Manchester United legends are in agreement that Bruno Fernandes needs to be stripped of the captain’s armband by Erik ten Hag. The Portuguese midfielder took up the role on a permanent basis in the summer after filling in for Harry Maguire throughout much of the previous campaign.
Calls to strip Fernandes of the captaincy have grown louder following United’s loss to Bournemouth over the weekend, in which he picked up a petulant yellow card for arguing with the referee. It means that he will be suspended for the upcoming trip to Liverpool after receiving five bookings over the course of this season.
Roy Keane has repeatedly urged Ten Hag to appoint a new captain, saying after last month’s derby defeat to Manchester City: “The first thing I would do is take the captaincy off him. I know it’s a big decision but Fernandes is not captain material.
“He’s a talented player, but what I saw today, he’s whingeing, he’s moaning, he’s throwing his arms up in the air constantly. It really isn’t acceptable. When you’re talking about where do they make changes, board level, managers, I’d start with that because the manager is capable of doing that.”
Gary Neville recently echoed Keane’s verdict by calling for Fernandes to step down as captain at the end of the season, insisting that he should never have been given the armband in the first place. The former United defender told Webby and O’Neill: “If he had anything he’d get to the end of the season and he’d say: ‘Look, captaincy isn’t for me’.
“My view on it would be he needs to be someone who goes out onto that pitch and just concentrates on his own performance, gets back to thinking that he doesn’t have to be everywhere on the pitch. He doesn’t have to think about everyone else’s performance, he doesn’t have to speak to the referee every 10 seconds.”
When Fernandes was filling in for Maguire last season, Paul Scholes pointed out a major flaw in his game by suggesting that he is too emotional to be the leader that his team needs.
“I don’t think him as your captain would be ideal,” said Scholes on TNT Sports. “He’s only vice-captain at the moment as Maguire’s not playing. Going forward, bigger games, going for trophies, Champions League finals. a captain with less emotion might be better.”
Dwight Yorke had similar concerns about Fernandes when the 29-year-old was appointed captain earlier this year, with those initial doubts having proven to be true over the last few months.
“Fernandes’ leadership isn’t the best,” Yorke told OLBG. “But as far as I’m concerned, if he’s winning football matches and generating results as captain, that’s all that matters. The footballing world has changed a lot from when I played.”
It remains to be seen whether Fernandes will eventually step down as United captain, with a lack of suitable alternatives making things difficult for Ten Hag. Rio Ferdinand believes that Luke Shaw would be a better choice to skipper the side against Liverpool this weekend, although he expects Maguire to get the armband back in the absence of Fernandes.
He told talkSPORT: “You’d think it would be Harry Maguire, given that he was the last captain, but I don’t know who he will go with. There’s not many names jumping off the team sheet. Luke Shaw, maybe.”
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