"Not captain material" - Ex-Chelsea man blasts Erik ten Hag for making Bruno Fernandes Manchester United skipper

Former Chelsea star Andy Townsend believes Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes does not deserve to wear the armband.

The Englishman insists that the Portuguese midfielder is not leadership material while claiming that clubs nowadays make players captain just to retain them.

The Englishman said on talkSPORT:

"[I see a] lot of clubs right now, they make people captain because they want them to stay. They want to keep them there. I see that quite a lot. I don't think he is captain material."

It was then suggested to Townsend that Manchester United have far worse problems and the captaincy issue is not a cause for worry, to which he replied:

"Yea, they do, they do. But too many times now, I see people being given an armband because... It's not necessarily because he's the right man for the job, but because he's the senior player, or the top man, or the biggest asset, the most valuable asset."

The Englishman then cited legendary former Manchester United captains Bryan Robson and Roy Keane.

He believes that Fernandes is not cut from the same cloth as these football icons.

Townsend said:

"Robbo [Bryan Robson], Keano [Roy Keane], these people are proper, they're captains on merit. They automatically get the armband because of the type of characters they are. I don't see that with Bruno at all."

He added:

"He's a talented player, yes, of course, but when he starts waving and flapping his arms around and pointing fingers at everybody else, it's a wonder he doesn't get a mouthful from some of his teammates."

Manchester United have not had a good start to the 2023–24 Premier League campaign with Fernandes as captain, which has led to the Portuguese midfielder receiving some criticism.

The Red Devils are 12th in the league standings after a win against Wolves in the opening weekend and a brutal 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, August 19.

---

"You've just got to be honest": Rio Ferdinand urges Manchester United star to 'own up' after Spurs loss

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has criticized Fernande for his actions in the side's loss to the Lilywhites.

Pape Matar Saar got on the scoresheet for Tottenham while Lisandro Martinez scored an own goal, allowing the Lilywhites to take all three points after a 2-0 win.

However, the match might have had a different ending had Manchester United been awarded a penalty in the first half.

A strike from Alejandro Garnacho in the first half seemed to hit Christian Romero's hand. However, the spot kick was not given.

Fernandes was visibly upset at the decision as he lashed out at the referee in protest, which led to him being booked immediately.

Ferdinand was disapproving of the Portuguese midfielder's actions, as he said on Vibe with Five (as quoted by The Mirror):

"I think at this point you've just got to be honest, man. I understand why he's upset, but he probably would have got more out of it by coming out there and going, 'You know what, we've been s**t, we ain't been up to the level we expect ourselves to be at and we need to get better, be better and do more'."