admin After being pilloried last week, Bruno Fernandes is due praise this week. But the criticism was devoid of context.
Bruno Fernandes won a game with Manchester United last weekend after being horribly pilloried for a week.
Fernandes’ man of the match running into the mixed zone was an open goal that United are yet to miss. Fernandes was “done” after harmless negotiations with the heirs.
Old Trafford is such an outdated stadium that there are almost no designated mixed zones. An impromptu is installed in the hall.
This was not allowed as thousands of supporters delayed their departure and expressed their opposition to the Glazer family occupation.
So we couldn’t ask: ‘What do you think of the criticism that has been leveled at you this week?’ Fernandes was denied an easier finish than a penalty.
Two days prior to the Nottingham Forest match, Fernandes shared a clip of Deion Sanders, the Colorado Buffaloes football coach, responding to a reporter.
“Look at me,” Sanders says in the video. “What about me would make you think that I care about your opinion of me? Your opinion of me is not the opinion that I have of myself. You ain’t make me, so you can’t break me. You didn’t build me, so you can’t kill me.”
The reel was doubtless aimed at Fernandes’s detractors. He was understood to be frustrated about the flak he copped in the aftermath of the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham and resisted posting an outright response after United staff advised against it.
Fernandes received a yellow card for challenging referee Michael Oliver at Spurs Stadium, then wondered if Manchester United would receive an apology for not being awarded a penalty like Wolves manager Gary O’Neil had five days earlier had done at Old Trafford.
United indulged in a siege mentality and Fernandes was besieged. His on-field questioning of referees and complainants has not enabled him to endear himself to some English fans, so he will always lack sympathy.
Fernandes was also denied with a single header and the game ended goalless. Any claims that Fernandes would shirk responsibility were false; In a separate interview, he took responsibility for his trash. But the dye was thrown away a long time ago.
Fernandes destroyed the tools in Liverpool’s 7-0 win at Anfield when he kicked Fabio Carvalho, feigned pain, got angry with the linesman and got into a fight with the United team.
The bicker was misread by Gary Neville, more impassioned than impartial in the gantry. He surmised Fernandes demanded to be substituted. He didn’t. But the mud has stuck.
Open season was declared on United last week and they got both barrels. Deservedly so, for the shabby handling of the Mason Greenwood outcome and some of the irresponsible wording in the statements they released.
There were zero positives from the second half at Tottenham, where United were a parody of the club’s infamous David Moyes tweet: they needed to improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending.
Fernandes is an easy fall guy. He is the captain, he complains and another word beginning with ‘c’ could have described his performance at Tottenham.
He’s not English either. United’s captaincy was handed over to Fernandes by the England international and official recognition increased his control.
There was a common thread running through the headlines of Fernandes’ ratings last week: they were posted by British players, mostly English.
You don’t get free plugins here. Normally the accusation of “British Media Bias” is completely absurd.In the case of Fernandes, some people find it absurd to believe that he has jeopardized England’s preparations for the EURO by ousting Harry Maguire as captain.
It doesn’t matter that two weeks ago Maguire missed a chance to join undefeated West Ham United. A team-mate questioned Fernandes’ qualifications to captain after the defeat by Liverpool in March.
I’m in the minority who don’t side with Fernandes in the dressing room. Portuguese is nationality independent and fluent in English, Spanish and French.
The standard of punditry in England drops with every year and Sky have decided to fix the one football show that was not broken with Monday Night Football. The brand of patriotic or partisan punditry is the most insufferable, whether it is Neville and Jamie Carragher’s fanzone commentaries during United-Liverpool games or Rachel Brown-Finnis whooping at Mary Earps’s World Cup final penalty save.
On the airwaves, the podcasting proliferation continues in an already crowded market. The latest to pop up touched upon Jordan Henderson, purportedly an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, moving to Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal. One of the podcast contributors opined Henderson was “a great lad to have in the dressing room”. That was a cliché in the days Brian Moore anchored football programmes.
The key context with Fernandes is he captained United in 42 of their 62 games last season, playing as the No.10, on the right and in midfield. His performance level was consistently high and, though his numbers were lower than during the misleading behind-closed-doors period, it was his best season.
United became a force to be reckoned with again, lifted a trophy and climbed the league ladder with Fernandes assuming greater responsibility as their leader. All while selflessly occupying different roles. That is captain material.
So was his performance against Forest. As soon as United went 2-0 down, the angry Andre Onana initiated the inquest but the often irascible Fernandes preached calm.
With United 2-1 down, Fernandes sparked a counter-attack from inside his own area by bulldozing past Brennan Johnson and winning two sliding tackles with Serge Aurier to set Marcus Rashford on his way.
From pilloried to praised, perhaps.
