Paul Scholes has stated that he would ‘be concerned’ about Bruno Fernandes’ suitability as a potential permanent captain of Manchester United. While first captain Harry Maguire hasn’t played since the turn of the year, the Portugal star has taken the helm. Fernandes might earn the job permanently now that SunSport has exclusively revealed Paris Saint-Germain is interested in signing Maguire this summer.
Fans and journalists, meanwhile, have had a mixed reaction to the Bruno Fernandes’ leadership abilities this season. With his awful performance in United’s 7-0 loss to Liverpool, in which he pretended to be injured before pushing a linesman, the playmaker definitely didn’t help himself. Then, infuriating his supporters, he appeared to be pleading to be replaced late in the game; a claim which he has subsequently denied.
Bruno Fernandes’ United captaincy slammed left and right
Bruno Fernandes has come under fire for both his performance as well as captaincy skills in recent games. The 28-year-old has been donning the armband for sometime now in Maguire’s absence, but hasn’t quite ‘led from the front’. With a goal and assist in Thursday’s 4-1 victory over Real Betis in the Europa League, Fernandes partially atoned for his previous performance.
But, Erik ten Hag, according to former United great Scholes, would be wrong to make such a ’emotional’ man the captain. Scholes said:
“Your captain has to be an influence, leader, calm character. I’d be concerned if United, in March, April, are going for the title. I don’t think him as your captain would be ideal. 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.”
However, Scholes was also one of the very few to defend Bruno Fernandes’ horror show against Liverpool in the 7-0 thrashing United took. The ex-midfielder added:
“He’s been asked to play in a position he’s not comfortable doing. He’s sacrificed himself for that. We’ve seen he was frustrated with teammates, he won’t be proud of what happened. Throwing his arms in the air, pushing the official, he’ll learn from that. He comes from Portugal where they do that all the time but in England it’s not quite as acceptable. Going forward he’ll try and get rid of those little annoying things in his game.”
Marcus Rashford’s early goal at Old Trafford on Thursday night was cancelled out by former Premier League star Ayoze Perez, but Manchester United controlled the second half and established a sizable first-leg lead courtesy to goals from Bruno Fernandes, Wout Weghorst, and Antony. As they sit third in the Premier League, Ten Hag’s team will play relegation-threatened Southampton on Sunday.