Barely a fortnight ago, Manchester United manager Eric ten Hag had lauded the leadership of Bruno Fernandes, stating that the Portuguese midfielder, with his energy, was a great example for everyone in the squad.
After Sunday’s 7-0 rout at Anfield, that reputation lies in tatters. Fernandes, according to some pundits, is a “disgrace”.
Ten Hag has blasted his players for being unprofessional. Fernandes would be at the top of the pile — he combined diving with feigning an injury, failed to track back, and even shoved the assistant referee Adam Nunn, who had tried to calm him down in the 81st minute. For a team apparently undergoing a tectonic cultural shift, with senior players at last summoning a semblance of leadership, that is quite the indictment.
What United needed at Anfield was a leader who could rally his shoulder-drooping forces against the marauding Reds.
Fernandes did not appear to have what it takes to do that, lacking composure and the body language needed to be the commander. Fernandes was very lucky not to receive a yellow card, or even a red, for pushing Nunn.
Some suggested that Fernandes vented his frustration as he wanted to be removed from the game.
The captain appeared to complain when Ten Hag subbed off Marcus Rashford instead of him in the 85th minute.
Former United captain Gary Neville, who was commentating on the game for Sky Sports, reacted by saying: “Some of Fernandes’ behaviour in the second half has been a disgrace.
“He is holding his hands up asking: ‘Why am I not coming off?’”
Neville later added: “The second half has been an absolute disgrace, a shambles, epitomised by captain Bruno Fernandes who has been embarrassing at times.”
A far cry from the evening at Wembley just a week ago, on February 26, when Fernandes and Harry Maguire held aloft the League Cup, United’s first piece of silverware in almost six years. Although Maguire is the club captain, the England international is no longer a regular starter at the Old Trafford outfit.
“First as captain, he’s an example on the pitch with the energy he puts in, and for our tactical approach in both the transition moments. Bruno is so important for this team. He’s a great example for everyone in the squad,” Ten Hag had said of Fernandes in the run-up to the game.
After that heady Wembley victory over Newcastle United, there was the temptation to call Ten Hag a miracle worker. A week on, there are now mutterings if the celebrations were premature. The more sober judgment is that United, who had kept parity for 43 minutes, succumbed to a brain fade so dramatic that it confounds any logic or pattern.
After all, brain fades, while rare, are not wholly unknown in football. It did happen to Brazil in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup at their home, slammed 7-1 by eventual champions Germany.
Except that United are too great an institution for this humiliation merely to be wished away as a brain fade. In the club’s 145-year history, it has not shipped seven to Liverpool.
The hard truth is that there is still a dysfunction at United’s heart. And there is a sense that by celebrating their League Cup triumph so hard, United may have fallen prey to complacency.
Across the last 10 league games between the two at Anfield, the aggregate scoreline is 36-2 in Liverpool’s favour. United may have won in August at Old Trafford but on Sunday, they appeared rudderless, seemingly without any plan to deny the spaces to their opponents. And even if they had a plan, it just unravelled once Cody Gakpo scored. As Mike Tyson had famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
United’s biggest defeats
■ 1926, First Division: 7-0 to Blackburn Rovers
■ 1930, First Division: 7-0 to Aston Villa
■ 1931, Second Division: 7-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers
■ 1960, First Division: 7-3 to Newcastle United
■ 1961, FA Cup: 7-2 to Sheffield Wednesday
■ 2023, Premier League: 7-0 to Liverpool
