English pundit Chris Sutton has blasted Manchester United vice-captain Bruno Fernandes for his several blunders in the heavy defeat against Liverpool.
On a weird evening at Anfield, Manchester United suffered their biggest Premier League defeat against Liverpool.
After a seemingly balanced first half, Liverpool ran riot at Manchester United in the second half, scoring six pass the rickety, lackluster defense line of the Red Devils.
Mo Salah, Gody Gakpo, and Darwin Nunez led the riot, ravaging an already crumbling Man United defense to the dismay of the traveling fans.
As expected, some players have been pinpointed for blame and blasted by fans and pundits alike after the abysmal performance against Liverpool.
Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag said the result is unacceptable. He added “eleven Man United players lost their head” in the game.
Premier League pundit and former manager Chris Sutton has particularly torn into Bruno Fernandes for his shocking performance in the game.
Sutton has called Erik Ten Hag to immediately strip Bruno of the club’s vice-captaincy after his glaring embarrassing scenes in the game.
Highlighting major blunders by Bruno Fernandes during the game in a Daily Mail column, the 49-year-old blasted the Portuguese for an abysmal show and also questioned his pedigree to bear the Vice-captaincy band of the club.
Chris Sutton maintained Bruno Fernandes should be punished, pointing out five embarrassing blunders by the 28-year-old in the game.
Sutton cited an instance Bruno Fernandes shoved the assistant referee on the touchlines while struggling for a ball that has crossed the line for a throw.
He also blasted him for sheepishly feigning injury when he ran into a slight challenge with Ibrahim Konate.
Bruno Fernandes sprawled to the ground after the challenge and held his nose with his two hands feigning injury after the incident.
Sutton also claimed Fernandes cowardly dived trying to win a penalty in the game after coming into contact with Allison.
He also blamed Fernandes for his lackluster approach in the game, citing an instance he refused to mark Bajcetic when he was dispossessed of the ball and beaten to the ball, including a scenario he waved his hands in frustration, asking Erik Ten Hag to sub him off.
“Bruno Fernandes shoved the referee’s assistant. He acted as if his nose had exploded when caught in the chest by Ibrahima Konate. He dived to try to win a penalty from Alisson. He refused to track Stefan Bajcetic when beaten. He waved his arms in the air when Erik ten Hag did not substitute him”, the pundit wrote.
Sutton described Bruno Fernandes’ display as “shameful, embarrassing, and disgraceful,” and not worthy of a player playing the role of a captain in such a high-profile game.
Bringing Harry Maguire into his narrative, the football columnist added Maguire would have done a far better job than Fernandes and asked he should not be allowed to captain the team in the upcoming Europa League clash against Real Betis on Thursday.
“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”, he added.
“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.”
Manchester United legend Gary Neville was also critical of Bruno Fernandes describing his performance throughout the game as “unprofessional.”
Another United legend Roy Keane described Bruno Fernandes’ display as “disgraceful.”
Prior to the game, Bruno Fernandes has been at the center of Manchester United’s treble-chasing campaign.
He has scored 7 goals and delivered 7 assists in 38 appearances for Manchester United this season in all competitions.
The Portuguese star will hope to feature for the Red Devils on Thursday when they host Real Betis in the Europa League round 16 knockouts on Thursday.
