‘Unforgivable’…ESPN pundit slams 29-year-old Manchester United player after ‘unacceptable’ moment yesterday

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Craig Burley has not held back in his criticism of Bruno Fernandes after the Manchester United captain was booked during their loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Burley was speaking on ESPN with the yellow card set to rule the United captain out of their game against Liverpool next weekend.

Saturday proved to be a miserable day for Manchester United. Staggeringly, Erik ten Hag’s men were beaten 3-0 at home for the third time this season. But this was not Manchester City or Newcastle United.

Bruno Fernandes criticised after Manchester United defeat

To add insult to injury, United will now have to face Liverpool next Sunday without their captain after Bruno Fernandes picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Fernandes was penalised for dissent. And with that, Burley pulled no punches whatsoever as he criticised the Portuguese.

“They were a shambles in the end. And Bruno Fernandes, whether people think he should be captain or not, they have a huge game against Bayern, they have a huge game against Liverpool coming up. He knows his manager’s under pressure. He’s captain of the football club. He’s one of the most senior and experienced and talented players. And he gets himself booked for basically gobbing off which is something that he does regularly. And he’s now going to miss that game,” he told ESPN.

“So that’s another big problem for ten Hag going into the team that’s sitting top of the league. And I just think it’s unacceptable behaviour from a skipper, particularly when you’re looking for leadership at a time when you are under the scrutiny that Erik ten Hag is. I think it’s unforgivable for your skipper to get booked in such a crazy manner.”

Captaincy debate set to start up again

You cannot question Fernandes’ desire to win. And he remains one of the best players in the squad. So it is a big blow for United to not have him for the clash with a Liverpool side who now sit top of the Premier League table.

However, his suspension will spark a fresh debate over whether he should be the club’s captain. He definitely let the team down with that yellow card. Having said that, few players in the squad will have the right to feel that they brought anything positive to that performance yesterday.

And ultimately, Erik ten Hag can hardly turn to anyone else to be the captain. Manchester United have been poor for the majority of the season, even when they have been winning games.

It is not clear what, or who, is going to drag them out of this rut. But what is clear is that they feel further away from being title contenders than they were a decade ago.