David de Gea has ironically commented that Bruno Fernandes shouldn’t be the Manchester United captain following the midfielders stoppage-time winner against Fulham on Saturday.
It was announced during the summer that Harry Maguire would be replaced as captain, with the armband going to Fernandes. Since then, the Portugal international has been subject to criticism because he has not reached previous standards – but neither has the team.
The heaviest bit of criticism came from Roy Keane after the Manchester derby. The Irishman claimed that Fernandes should be stripped of the captaincy role.
“The first thing I would do is take the captaincy off him [Fernandes],” Keane said on Sky Sports, as quoted by Reuters. “I know it’s a big decision but Fernandes is not captain material.
“He’s a talented player, but what I saw today, he’s whinging, he’s moaning, he’s throwing his arms up in the air constantly.
“It really isn’t acceptable. When you’re talking about where do they make changes – board level, managers – I’d start with that because the manager is capable of doing that.
“Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but he’s the opposite to what you want in a captain.”
Fernandes answered his critics by standing up when United needed him most on Saturday with a 91-minute winner at Craven Cottage. It was Fernandes’ 66th goal in 1999 games and he took to Instagram after the game before De Gea showed his support.
De Gea wrote: “You are not the right captain” along with a zipped mouth emoji.
Keane vs De Gea
It would be fair to say Keane wasn’t a huge fan of De Gea during his final years at Old Trafford.
Keane’s most famous rant on the Spaniard came after the first game back from lockdown as United headed to Tottenham.
De Gea conceded a soft goal in the first-half and Keane pulled no punches in the studio, saying (via The Mirror): “And I am sick to death of this goalkeeper. I would be flying in at half-time. I would be swinging punches at that guy.
“This is a standard save for a standard, international goalkeeper. I am flabbergasted. There’s got to be some stuff going on at half-time.”
Keane went on to add: “Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn’t even let them on the bus after the game. Get a taxi back to Manchester.”
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Sometimes even people you think have a working brain can spew rubbish. It happens and I’ve accepted that.
So strip Bruno of the captaincy, and then what? Who will you be giving it to exactly, Roy Keane?
Captain America most probably!!