Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has come under fire from pundits after a major booking ruled him out of next weekend’s huge clash with Liverpool.
Fernandes picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in Bournemouth’s demoralizing 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford and was replaced by dissent.
Former Liverpool and United striker Michael Owen has questioned the disciplinary record of the notoriously hostile manager. He joked that Fernandes made a conscious decision to get the book so he would miss the always tense Anfield match.
Owe told Premier League Productions: “Maybe you don’t want to go to Anfield. I wouldn’t at the moment. I’m not sure if you’re thinking about the next game when you’re rushing. He should be responsible; he should be a good ambassador and team leader.
- I wonder how many yellow cards he got for dissent and waving his hands. We all know the refs stick to it and he gets an awful lot of play for a player who can barely put his foot down and make a tackle. He’s really, really busy.” While Owen appeared prepared to give the Portugal international the benefit of the doubt, Richard Keys was far less forgiving in his view of the incident – believing the booking may have been premeditated.
- Keys said If we all agree that if he knows he’s going to get the game, he’s going to miss the game, I can’t think of any other scenario where I can give him some leeway on that and say and it was a fiery moment and. It wasn’t.
I think he knew he was going to get booked and miss the game. That sums him up for me. He is not a captain, he is not a leader and real Manchester United captains have questioned his position there. But former United defender Phil Neville was having none of it and hit Keys argue strongly I think it’s a ridiculous thing to say – shame on whoever said that publicly Neville said. - If you look at Bruno Fernandes, I love Bruno Fernandes, he cares about Manchester United.
Look at the teams in the top six and that’s one player I’ll pick. Look at one player who goes out after a loss – it and Bruno Fernandes.
Over the years, captains have played like Bruno Fernandes. Roy Keane moaned and groaned like Bruno Fernandes. In this team he is the best player, he plays on the right side, in midfield and continues to do so because he cares about the club. - The Reds face their rivals next Sunday at 16:30 GMT.