Earlier this season Pep Guardiola showed a clip of Bruno Fernandes to his Manchester City players as an example of how not to behave on the football pitch.
The Manchester United captain has had a brilliant campaign, providing a record-breaking 21 assists in the Premier League.
The Portugal international has been named Premier League Player of the Season and won the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year thanks to his performances.
His quality is undeniable, but his behaviour on the pitch has split opinion over his Manchester United career so far.
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This talk has died down in recent times, but Fernandes used to come in for huge criticism for his demonstrative nature, with Roy Keane describing him in 2023 as ‘the opposite of what I would want in a captain.’
Guardiola is also not a fan of some of Fernandes’ behaviour on the field, highlighting an example of how not to act to his City stars.
The Athletic report that after Manchester City hammered the Red Devils 3-0 at the Etihad in September, Guardiola showed his players a clip of Fernandes during the match.
The clip showed Fernandes fuming with his teammates after Phil Foden opened the scoring for City.
The Manchester City boss made it clear that overtly berating teammates was not acceptable, after seeing Fernandes doing so while the City players celebrated.
Guardiola himself can be extremely animated on the touchline and will often show his dissatisfaction, but he reportedly made it clear that he does not want to see the same from his players.
It was during testing times for Manchester United three years ago that Fernandes was most in the firing line from former players for his behaviour.
After the remarkable 7-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in March 2023, Gary Neville said on Sky Sports: ‘The second half has been an absolute disgrace. It was a shambles, epitomised by captain Bruno Fernandes, who has been embarrassing at times.
‘I have had enough of Fernandes throwing his arms around, whinging at everyone, holding his face when touched.
‘That wasn’t a captain’s performance from a Manchester United player.’
In October that year, after another 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, Roy Keane said: ‘I would definitely take the captaincy off him, 100 per cent.
‘I know it’s a big decision but Fernandes is not captain material. He’s a talented player, no doubt about it, but his whinging, his moaning, throwing his arms up in the air constantly. It really isn’t acceptable.
‘I would take that off him. You have to start somewhere in terms of making changes. You’re talking about board level, managers, I would start with that.
‘Fernandes is a brilliant footballer, but in terms of captain material, he is the opposite of what I would want in a captain.’
Neville has since praised Fernandes’ improvement as a leader, saying the ‘whinging’ that bothered him in the past is less of an issue now.
‘He’s been exceptional since he’s come to the club,’ Neville said in March this year. ‘There was a period about 18 months ago where he dipped a little bit below that standard. But it feels to me right now that he’s playing the very best and most comfortable I’ve seen him.
‘He’s exceptional on the ball, he’s seeing passes earlier, but he’s always seen passes early.
‘I’ve got the utmost admiration for him. I think also the whinging that I had a problem with two or three years ago. Always complaining at teammates, that’s definitely tempered. I think he’s matured.
‘I don’t think that’s something that anybody likes to see that, you want to see players coming together. I think his leadership is getting better.’
