Roy Keane wants Manchester United to strip Bruno Fernandes of captaincy (1 Viewer)

Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane has strongly urged Erik ten Hag to reconsider his decision to appoint Bruno Fernandes as the club's captain. Fernandes, the Portuguese playmaker, had taken on the captain's role several times during the 2022-23 season when the former skipper, Harry Maguire, found himself in a reduced capacity under Ten Hag's management.

As Maguire was demoted to being the club's fourth-choice center-back, the captain's armband was handed over to Fernandes for the 2023-24 season. However, Fernandes' initial months as the team's on-field leader have been rather lackluster. In his 13 matches as captain this season, Fernandes has led Manchester United to six victories and suffered seven losses.

He contributed two goals and three assists during this period. Notably, the Red Devils managed a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup without him, with Raphael Varane taking on the captain's role that day while Fernandes remained on the bench.

In a recent Manchester derby, Fernandes, like most of his teammates, had a relatively quiet performance. Erling Haaland scored twice, and Phil Foden added another goal as Manchester City comfortably defeated Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford. The Ten Hag-led team struggled on their home turf and only showed occasional sparks of offensive creativity.

During the game, Fernandes did create two chances and attempted two shots, but he was dribbled past by opponents four times, committed three fouls, and received a booking, making it a forgettable performance.

After witnessing his former club's lackluster performance, Roy Keane criticized Fernandes for his constant complaining and stated that he is the opposite of what a captain should be, in an interview with Sky Sports News.

"Today having watched him again I would take the captaincy off him 100 per cent. I know it's a big decision, obviously they changed the captaincy with Maguire, but Fernandes is not captain material," Keane said.

"He is a talented player no doubt about it. But what I saw today - we've discussed many times before, it was last season at Liverpool - his whinging, his moaning and throwing his arms up in the air constantly.

"It really isn't acceptable. From what we saw today, I'm thinking I would take that off him. You have to start somewhere. We were talking about where do you start [fixing the problems] - the manager, board level.

"I would start with that because the manager is capable of doing that. Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but in terms of captain material he is the opposite to what I would want in a captain."