Erik ten Hag called for Fulham to issue an apology to Bruno Fernandes following a tasteless video that was shared to their TikTok account this week.
The Cottagers picked up a surprise 2-1 win on their trip to Old Trafford last Saturday, defeating United for the first time in 2024 and dampening their already-distant hopes of a top-four finish even further.
Fernandes, as always, started the clash and played the full 90 minutes as his side fell to a dismal loss in the seventh minute of injury time, rendering Harry Maguire’s second-half equaliser in vain when the full-time whistle blew.
United’s club captain has frequently come under fire for his antics on the pitch, most commonly the way he approaches and reacts to referees or decisions that don’t go his way. Fans will also admit that his theatrics when attempting to claim a foul can often harm the team when looking to regroup in defence or create a quick counter-attack, and Fernandes is still on the floor feigning injury.
Of course, this isn’t always the case. There are times when he is in genuine need of treatment and you’d wonder if now, given his reputation with referees, they may be less likely to stop play than if it was another player.
Fulham’s edited clip showed Fernandes dispatch a shot on the edge of the area, colliding slightly with Sasa Lukic while doing so and subsequently falling to the floor. He proceeds to roll around for a few moments, clutching his leg and waving for a free-kick before getting to his feet and quickly demanding the ball.
The TikTok was captioned: “So glad he’s ok…” with a rolling-eye emoji, and it has amassed over 125,000 likes and almost 5,000 comments in just two days.
How the managers reacted
Reacting to the post in a press conference on Thursday, Ten Hag said: “It is not right. Totally out of order and wrong. They should apologise for this.”
Silva has since weighed in on the matter in his own conference today, responding (via BBC): “Ten Hag defends his player, I can understand that. When a manager defends one football player, I think it’s a normal situation, I think if it’s one of our players I am going to defend him until the last.
“He is the captain of Man United, he is a player I know really well and he is a top player, he is a top professional. You are not a Man United captain if you don’t have all the package to be in the same box to be a Man United captain and to be so important.”
