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8 months ago
34 Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes is struggling to find his best form this season and he is a player that tends to attract lots of criticism.
I find that Fernandes is often made the scapegoat by pundits for United’s troubles due to his body language and his habit of complaining to referees, as seen again at full-time on Saturday after United’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham.
Erik ten Hag will hope his team will respond to that defeat when they face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup fifth round tonight, however, the manager could be without his captain.
It was confirmed on Tuesday evening that Fernandes was a doubt for the trip to Forest. The same applies to Raphael Varane, while Harry Maguire has been ruled out for the match.
Fernandes has been unable to silence his critics this season and we’ve already heard why Roy Keane doesn’t think he is cut out for the captaincy role. Those views are being echoed again – but this time by one of Keane’s former teammates, with Paul Parker suggesting Lisandro Martinez would be a better captain than the Portugal international.
Speaking to Gambling.com, Parker said: “I think you have to look at Bruno Fernandes. What are United really going to achieve going forward with Bruno Fernandes? how far can he take Manchester United?
“His saving grace is that people always talk about his numbers, what he produces in terms of stats, but it’s easier to get those numbers due to the players around him.
“I think, if United are going to step forward and have consistency as a team and individuals, Bruno Fernandes is not going to be one of them. That will upset and alienate a lot of people, as well as me, but sometimes you have to look at him (Bruno).
“Yes, of course (when asked if Ten Hag needs to look at changing the captaincy at the end of the season). I think you have to go by public opinion. When I say public, I mean the Manchester United fans opinion. You go through the fans who have supported the club through thick and thin who have seen great players, great managers, and great captains, and they would give you the reasons why he shouldn’t be the captain of Manchester United.
“His only saving grace is the question of, who would you give it to? Perhaps Lisandro Martinez? Many people might say he doesn’t speak great English which I don’t know enough about, but he certainly leads by example.
“You want a captain, who, by all accounts, takes authority but he (Bruno) doesn’t do that. I think the main person (to be United captain), for me, isn’t fit as this moment in time (Martinez).”
United fans hope to see Martinez recover from his latest injury before the end of the season. The Argentine was a massive loss to the team during the first half of the season and he was misfortunate enough to sustain another bad injury just weeks after fully recovering.
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