Bruno Fernandes: The moment Man Utd captain gave up vs Liverpool | OneFootball

Yesterday’s 7-0 thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool was a dark day for all involved with Manchester United.

The scoreline was United’s biggest margin of defeat since Boxing Day 1931 and brought back unpleasant memories of the beginning of the season and games in recent seasons where United have completely capitulated after losing a couple of goals.

For the most part this season, Manchester United have been very good, just last weekend they beat Newcastle 2-0 at Wembley to lift the League Cup; the club’s first trophy in over six years.

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Erik ten Hag’s time at the club so far has been an overwhelming success as he has transformed United back into a competitive side. That said, he has already experienced some real low points in his short tenure, including the demolitions received by Brentford and Manchester City during the opening weeks of the season.

Perhaps the player that best sums up the highest highs and lowest lows of Manchester United is Bruno Fernandes.

Bruno Fernandes facing heavy criticism after Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United

In the absence of Harry Maguire, Fernandes has taken on the role of United captain and even co-lifted the League Cup alongside the Englishman.

When United are playing well, he is usually one of the stand-out players on the pitch and his stats speak for themselves. In 166 games for United across all competitions, the Portuguese has 57 goals and 50 assists.

In contrast, when United are struggling, Bruno Fernandes’ performances display all of his shortcomings as a footballer, most notably, his attitude.

During yesterday’s defeat, Fernandes showed off his full array of petulance as he pushed a linesman, appeared to ask to be substituted at 6-0, dived to try and win a penalty, went down holding his face after being brushed on the chest, moaned consistently at the officials and his teammates, and worst of all, he simply gave up.

Videos: Bruno Fernandes giving up vs Liverpool

With United already dead and buried, Liverpool youngster Stefan Bajcetic, nipped in in front of the Portuguese and looked to beat him down the line. Initially, Fernandes caught up with his opponent before simply attempting to scythe down the teenager.

Bajcetic skipped away from the challenge unscathed as he looked to add another goal to the tally and Fernandes simply walked back having completely given up.

After the game, fans and pundits alike were absolutely scathing in their assessment of Fernandes with Gary Neville labelling him as “embarrassing.”

He also said: “I've had enough of him throwing his arms around at his teammates; I've had enough of him not running back; he whinges at everybody.”

Roy Keane backed up his former teammate by saying: “Fernandes' body language today was disgraceful.”

Chris Sutton writing for the Daily Mail was even more brutal in his words as he labelled Fernandes ‘The Incredible Sulk.’

“Bruno Fernandes, take a bow for one of the worst performances we have seen from a Premier League player, certainly from a captain.

“The Incredible Sulk racked up quite the rap sheet at Anfield. There was nothing professional about this behaviour. It was more befitting a petulant child, and the push on the assistant should result in a ban, no ifs and buts.”

After the game, Fernandes was bold enough to come out for a post-match interview, but the damage was already done.

It’ll be interesting to see if Fernandes remains captain should Maguire continue not to play or whether instead Ten Hag will look at other experienced options such as Casemiro and Raphael Varane.