Bryan Robson backs Fernandes as Man United leader | OneFootball

Bryan Robson has backed Bruno Fernandes as Manchester United’s leader and believes the midfielder is ‘coming into his own as a captain’.

Fernandes has faced criticism of his captaincy in recent months, with former Manchester United captain Roy Keane vocal of his unhappiness with the player’s leadership.

“They’re 15th in the league and he’s saving them? Praise the lord,” Keane said in a heated argument with ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright on The Overlap podcast.

“You have to have a starting point. I go back to it all – talent is not enough. Bruno’s a talented player, but talent’s not enough. You talk to me [about] who you were in a dressing room with. ‘Tony Adams was this’, ‘Tony Adams was that’. Yeah, because he was a fighter. Bruno’s not a fighter.

“You’ve got young players. You have to look at somebody and go ‘I like what he does’. They all can’t put the ball in the top of the net from 25 yards, I get that. But you want someone who is going ‘lads, are you with me?”‘

Like Keane, Robson is regarded as one of Manchester United’s greatest captains and was nicknamed ‘Captain Marvel’ during a decorated career at Old Trafford. He offered a contrasting view on Fernandes and believes the 30-year-old is maturing as the leader of Ruben Amorim’s new-look side.

“He’s been in fantastic form in the last two months. I think the manager has told him you’ve got to be a leader on the pitch,” Robson exclusively told The Football Faithful, via Betselect

“You can see him talking to people now, saying, ‘this is what we’re doing because this is what the manager wants.’

“He’s just loving his game at the moment, and he’s making a massive difference. And that’s what sometimes confidence can do. Players need confidence. And if they’ve got the ability, then it can make a major improvement on their game.

“I think Bruno has done what I’d expect of a United captain, to a degree. Unfortunately for Bruno, the team hasn’t been good enough to win as many or major trophies as Manchester United should win. Yeah, we’ve had a couple of cup performances. But when you are at Manchester United, you want to be winning the league and European competitions.”

Asked where Fernandes could improve, Robson added: “I hope that he stays away from the rolling over when he gets tackled and that sort of thing. But he’s coming into his own as a captain. He looks as if he’s encouraging the players and saying, ‘you should be in this position, or that position.’

“I hope he keeps continuing to do that because you’ve got to. If you’ve got a football brain and you’re playing really well and the manager has made you captain, you’ve got to try and get the best out of the players around you and make sure that they do what the manager I was asked them to do.”

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