Ex-Man Utd star wades into Bruno Fernandes debate after fans call him "pathetic"
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has leapt to the defence of current Red Devils captain Bruno Fernandes after he was the subject of intense criticism.
To make matters worse for the United skipper, the bulk of the backlash came from his own fans, who are growing increasingly frustrated by the way Erik ten Hag's side are performing this term. Last weekend saw United slump to a 10th league defeat of the campaign at the hands of Fulham, with Alexi Iwobi netting a winner deep into second-half stoppage time to hand the Cottagers a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
In the aftermath of the contest, a video of an incident involving Fernandes quickly did the rounds on social media, with many supporters furious with what they perceived as diving from the Portugal international. The 29-year-old went down writing around in 'agony', despite replays showing minimal contact between him and Fulham ace Sasa Lukic.
Adding insult to fake injury, Fernandes soon shot up to his feet after referee Michael Oliver made clear he'd be getting nothing and was quickly demanding the ball from his team-mates who were still on the attack. His conduct was the talk of United fans online, but Brown has offered up a different perspective.
Speaking to Live Score Bet, the five-time Premier League winner explained: "I've seen a few of those where he dives and he gets up and then he's back on but listen, a lot of players do it But listen, Bruno is one of the most hard-working players on the team.
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"The manager decided to make him captain and like I said, we've all been frustrated at times, not just with any individual, but the team."
Brown continued and even suggested that other players within United's current crop should actually follow Fernandes' lead. He added: "He's got to keep on producing. He never puts his head down and we need the lads to all sort of do the same. You just got to keep on going.
"Maybe in the future, it might be somebody else, but at the moment, I think when you go through difficult times, the captain's always going to get pulled out."
HAVE YOUR SAY!Is Fernandes the right man to captain United? Comment below
Bruno Fernandes was the subject of some intense criticism over his dive against Fulham (James Gill/Danehouse)It is important to note that was not the sentiment shared by plenty of United fans on social media. One wrote: "Normally a big Bruno fan but this is PATHETIC."
Another disgruntled supporter claimed: "As a United supporter I can almost see why so many people say Bruno isn’t fit to be captain. I just think he’s really passionate though."
One neutral added: " Manchester United should better give back the captain armband to Maguire before they regret it." Another simply declared: " Bruno Fernandes is embarrassing...."
Fulham actually clipped up the alleged dive and uploaded it to the club's TikTok page, which prompted a fiery response from Ten Hag. The Dutchman explained: “It is absolutely not right that a club makes such a statement because it is totally out of order and wrong and they should apologise for this."
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