Man Utd warned Bruno Fernandes is 'frustrated' with struggles as new theory emerges

Rio Ferdinand has defended the body language of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who he feels gets frustrated because those around him are not good enough.

Fernandes, 30, has been criticised on a number of occasions by pundits and fans for displaying negative body language during games, particularly since he was given the club captaincy by Erik ten Hag back in the summer of 2023.

The Portuguese midfielder remains, though, one of the Red Devils' most influential players. Nobody at United has more goals (10) or assists (12) to their name than Fernandes this term as he continues to lead by example on that front for Ruben Amorim's beleaguered team.

But while he may excel in that respect, others have questioned his suitability for the captaincy role due to some of the behaviour he has shown on the pitch.

Ferdinand has angrily hit back at those claims, though, insisting that it's clear Fernandes is only frustrated because the other players that the club have signed are, effectively, not good enough.

“Bruno [Fernandes] is massively disrespected. All this talk about him not being captain material is trying to look for negatives in his game,” he said on the latest episode of his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

“Since he’s come, 28 goals, 18 assists in his first season, that’s 46 goal involvements. Ten goals and 13 assists in his second season. Third season, 14 goals, 13 assists. He’s got ten now and 12 assists. That says to me and it’s screaming one thing: consistency, output. This is what this guy brings and delivers.

“Some of the things he gets called out for, his body language etcetera… yeah, there could be improvements there, but that is borne out of frustration, that’s borne out of not being helped.

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“That’s borne out of, ‘You know what? I’m f***ing doing my job here’, look at the stats! No player has created more chances since he signed for Manchester United in the Premier League, by the way. Not Kevin De Bruyne, nobody. He’s created more chances than anybody since he signed.

“If you’re putting a human touch on that, you would be frustrated, you would be p***ed off that the club are signing players that haven’t been able to deliver.”

For what it's worth, Amorim also spoke out in defence of Fernandes in the the wake of criticism levelled at the player's body language back in January, stressing that United were lucky to be able to call upon a player of his calibre.

"I think he's a top player and then people talk a lot about his frustration, always with his arms in the air," Amorim reasoned. “Sometimes it's not a good thing to see, but you have to see the other side. When you are under pressure, he's always the guy that wants the ball, he's always available, and that is so important – especially in the Premier League.

“Then he can run, and he runs a lot. He fights a lot. You have two sides and I have to help him manage both situations. But we are lucky to have a player like Bruno Fernandes.”

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