Gary Neville heavily criticized Bruno Fernandes when this captain midfielder signaled to take a break in the middle of the 0-7 defeat to Liverpool on March 5.
When Anthony Elanga replaced Marcus Rashford in the 85th minute of the match against Liverpool, Gary Neville observed the strange behavior of Bruno Fernandes. “Fernandes stood in the center circle with his arms raised, expressing his desire to be substituted,” Neville told Sky Sports .
“Some of Fernandes’ gestures in the second half were disgraceful,” added Neville. “I’m sick of seeing him standing around waving his arms and refusing to run. It’s not a captain’s performance.”
Fernandes and other pillars of Man Utd such as David De Gea, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro or Marcus Rashford caused great disappointment in the match against Liverpool. The away team was leading 0-1 after the first half, then broke up too quickly in the second half. In the second half of the match, Man Utd lost six more goals and received a 0-7 defeat , the heaviest in the club’s history when facing Liverpool.
Witnessing Fernandes’ substitution action, Gary Neville’s former teammate Roy Keane was also annoyed. “Fernandes’ body language today was embarrassing,” said the former Man Utd captain. “The Man Utd players certainly feel ashamed too. They were missing in the second half.”
Fernandes himself did not hide his disappointment with the team’s performance. “We are all frustrated, because this is a really bad result,” the Portuguese midfielder said. “The first half we played better than Liverpool, but the second half the whole team played not at the level of Man Utd. We know the team can play better, with the quality of the staff available.”
Fernandes also admitted that the “Red Devils” collapsed when the goals came too quickly in the second half. He also said that the whole team tried to move forward but failed.
The heavy defeat at Liverpool made Man Utd almost lose hope of winning the title, because they were 13 points behind the top of the table Arsenal. Fernandes and his teammates are ranked third, just four points ahead of Tottenham and seven points ahead of Liverpool.
