Bruno Fernandes has denied asking to be substituted during Manchester United’s humiliating 7-0 loss to Liverpool.
Gary Neville claimed on Sky Sports commentary duty that the United captain asked to be removed after Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s sixth goal.
The United legend described Fernandes as a “disgrace” and criticized his body language and petulant behavior as his team capitulated.
But, according to the sun, Fernandes was simply asking manager Erik ten Hag and the United bench to clarify what position he would play after a substitution as he pointed in his direction.
It came after Ten Hag sent Anthony Elanga for Marcus Rashford in a United forward line shakeup.
Gary Neville has accused Bruno Fernandes of asking to be taken off in Manchester United’s 7-0 thrashing of Liverpool, something the Portuguese star now denies.
Gary Neville (right) criticized Bruno Fernandes for his antics against Liverpool
The Portuguese playmaker endured a miserable afternoon at Anfield when United were beaten 7-0 by rivals Liverpool in one of the most stunning results in modern football history, and the player himself came in with a lot of stick.
Fernandes also escaped punishment from the Football Association after shoving one of the assistant referees during the loss.
With Mohamed Salah having just added a sixth, and in the process of becoming the club’s all-time Premier League top scorer, Neville, on co-commentator duty for Sky Sports, said that part of Fernandes’ behavior it had been an ’embarrassment’ after his appearance. moan and complain regularly.
Elanga had just entered the fray, with Rashford retired. Fernandes, standing on the ball in the center circle to take another United restart, spread his arms wide and sneered in the direction of the bench.
“Bruno Fernandes is standing in the center circle with his arms raised and asks: ‘Why don’t I come out?’ Neville said. “Honestly, I have to say that some of his behavior in the second half has been a disgrace.
As team captain that day, Fernandes seemed to spend much of the second half berating his teammates, committing petty fouls, whining at the referee and exuding a particularly negative attitude.
Joining Graeme Souness, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher in the post-match studio, Neville doubled down on his criticism of the Portuguese.
‘I’m going to start with Bruno Fernandes,’ said a furious Neville.
‘I’ve had enough of him throwing his arms around his teammates; I’ve had enough of him not running back; he complains about everyone.
The behavior of the Portuguese midfielder during the heavy defeat has been criticized
Bruno Fernandes has escaped FA punishment for shoving the linesman on Sunday
Fernandes was involved in discussions with the referee and his assistant during the 7-0 loss
He added: ‘They pushed him in the chest and he fell clutching his face. He has to show the performance of a captain and that was not the performance of a captain from a Manchester United player.”
“Fernandes’ body language today was embarrassing,” Keane added.
He is a very talented boy, he is your captain. But the body language of him, waving his arms without running back, you wouldn’t be happy with him.
Sportsmail’s Chris Sutton also found significant problems with the behavior displayed by Fernandes, noting his pressure on the assistant referee when attempting a quick throw-in during the first half.
Bruno Fernandes pushed the assistant referee. He acted as if his nose had exploded when Ibrahima Konate caught him in the chest. He dove to try and earn a penalty from Alisson. He refused to track down Stefan Bajcetic when he was beaten up,” he wrote.
‘He waved his arms in the air when Erik ten Hag did not replace him. Bruno Fernandes, take a bow for one of the worst performances we’ve ever seen from a Premier League player, certainly from a captain.
‘The Incredible Sulk racked up quite a criminal record at Anfield. There was nothing professional in this behavior. It was more like a petulant child, and shoving the wizard should result in a ban, no ifs.
Fernandes appeared in a post-match interview and said sky sports that Liverpool’s defeat was a “really bad result” for him and his teammates.
‘It’s frustrating. It’s a really bad result, we came here with a different mentality. The first half was really good, we controlled most of it, the second half was not at our level”, said Fernandes. We give too much space. We know the threat they are.
‘It was not our level. We know that we can be better. It’s just a matter of moving on to the next game. The team tries to react but we lost a bit of balance and control. We gave too much space to a team that is strong on the counter. Games come fast.
We know that this team is really good and can do really good things.
We’ve set a very good standard for ourselves, now it’s just a matter of getting back to that. We are still in the Europa League and the FA Cup, we have to go back to normality.”
‘We are in the hunt to win the next game against [Real] Betis. We have to go game by game’, added the Portuguese.