Manchester United crashed to a humiliating defeat against Liverpool in the Premier League yesterday and midfielder Bruno Fernandez has been slammed for his antics during the 7-0 defeat at Anfield.
Fernandes was seen shoving the official, diving and having a go at his teammates at times during the game and the Portuguese international seemed utterly frustrated towards the end of the game.
The 28-year-old captained Manchester United against Liverpool and he was expected to lead from the front. However, the player had clearly lost his calm against Liverpool and his antics have not gone down well with former players, pundits and the fans.
There have been calls to strip the midfielder of his captaincy and it remains to be seen whether Erik ten Hag is willing to punish the player for his shameless antics.
“The Incredible Sulk racked up quite the rap sheet at Anfield,” Chris Sutton wrote in the Daily Mail.
“There was nothing professional about this behaviour. It was more befitting a petulant child, and the push on the assistant should result in a ban, no ifs and buts. Paolo Di Canio got 11 games [ban] in 1998, remember, and I wouldn’t disagree if Fernandes received the same punishment. This was shameful, embarrassing, disgraceful, whatever word you can conjure up.
“Whatever you think of Harry Maguire, the club captain, you would not catch him behaving like this on the pitch. Ten Hag dealt with the Cristiano Ronaldo problem. Now he needs to deal with Fernandes, starting with deciding whether he deserves to wear the armband in Thursday’s Europa League clash with Real Betis. I don’t think he does. Liverpool were fantastic and United were foul, and nobody embodied their deplorable display more than Fernandes.”
There is no doubt that Fernandes has been a key player for the Red Devils since joining the club, but he needs to sort out his attitude especially when he is up against adversity. The Portuguese star could have easily got himself sent off when he decided to shove the linesman during the Liverpool game and it could have proven costly for his side.