Roy Keane was wrong when he said the Portuguese was not a fighter – the captain can lead his ragtag team to European glory

Being the captain of Manchester United should be a position that commands great respect but Bruno Fernandes rarely receives it from leading figures in the game. Graeme Souness has been one of his fiercest critics, attacking him on numerous occasions. At different times he has called him "childish", accused him of "throwing in the towel" and most recently labelling him "a liability".

Souness, as one of Liverpool's greatest players, has naturally never been shy about criticising United players, most famously Paul Pogba. His criticism probably doesn't touch Fernandes' nerves. It should be expected. But what must hurt, however he insists it does not, is the barrage of grief aimed at his way from a fellow Manchester United captain.

Roy Keane has recently rivalled Souness as the midfielder's biggest detractor, wasting no opportunity to lay into the Portuguese. The man with 31 goals and assists this season is a strange scapegoat in a team so light on star quality but Fernandes has repeatedly been the main target of Keane's wrath.

And the Irishman set his sights on him again in February, taking issue with the emerging narrative that Fernandes has been carrying the team on his back after digging them out of holes against Everton and Ipswich. "Save us? They're 15th in the league and he's saving them? Praise the lord!" Keane said on . "Talent is not enough. Bruno's a talented player, but talent's not enough. Bruno's not a fighter."

Keane loves nothing more than a heated discussion but his comments were well wide of the mark. Fernandes has always been a fighter and he's the main reason why United still have something to play for this season: the chance to win the Europa League and earn a ticket back into the Champions League.

Getty More effective on his own

Fernandes showed his worth to United in the most obvious manner by scoring a hat-trick in their last Europa League game to fire them to a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. It was the showstopper moment of a recent purple patch for the captain, who had fizzed in a free-kick against Arsenal in the previous game and then went on to set up two goals and score himself in the win at Leicester before the international break.

United have not scored in their two games since returning to action but Fernandes has still demonstrated his class in the last two games against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. The problem was that his team-mates, as has often been the case, were nowhere near his level.

That was most strikingly clear in the derby, when Fernandes was at the heart of all of United's moves but was repeatedly let down by a bad touch or a hurried shot on goal. Patrick Dorgu and Alejandro Garnacho were the main culprits and, at one point in the first half, after Dorgu had shanked a Fernandes pass over the bar, it was tempting to conclude that the Portuguese would have been better off not passing to anyone and just going for goal by himself.

Advertisement(C)Getty Images'The type of player we want'

Watching Fernandes create so many promising moments only to watch them come to nothing, it was easy to see why he gets so wound up on the pitch. And while Keane believes that Fernandes' tendency to get emotional when things do not go United's way is a sign of poor leadership, Ruben Amorim argues that it is endearing.

"He really feels it. Sometimes the frustration that you see, that everybody sees and maybe says is not a good thing in a captain, is a sign that he wants this so bad. This is the kind of player that we want and he’s not going anywhere because I’ve already told him," Amorim said earlier this month, responding to a media report claiming Real Madrid were interested in taking Fernandes off United's hands.

"I want Bruno here because maybe in the lowest moments of our season he … we want to win the Premier League again so we want the best players to continue with us. He’s 30 but he’s still so young because he plays 55 games every season and, between assists and goals, he’s always there for us. He’s the type of player we want here, so he’s not going anywhere."

Getty ImagesOn Salah's level

Amorim does not just like Fernandes for his passion either. He knows that his compatriot is his best player by far, the one who can make the difference and so often does. He said after the derby: "That [worth to United] is clear, but you can look at the other teams, they have players that are essential. If you look at Liverpool, it's [Mohamed] Salah, the difference that he makes. Bruno is our player in that department. So, he's doing quite well."

And part of the reason Fernandes is so essential is because his team-mates have fallen so short. Just look at his fellow attackers. The captain is the team's most productive player, with 16 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho are next on the list, with nine goals and seven assists each.

Amad, however, has been out of action for the last two months and is only expected to return at the tail end of the season. And it should be pointed out that Garnacho's stats have been padded by his exploits in the Carabao Cup, particularly his two goals and two assists against League One Barnsley, which account for a quarter of his total goal involvements throughout the season.

Getty Fellow attackers falling short

The players who should be contributing the most given their positions are Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, but both are falling dismally short. Hojlund, who United signed for £72m ($92m) in 2023 after turning away from a potential move for Harry Kane, has only scored once in his last 24 games and his barren run can not even be blamed on shoddy finishing. More worryingly, he is not creating any danger at all.

His lack of threat was highlighted by a viral social media post showing that Harry Maguire had a higher rate of expected goals in nine minutes against Nottingham Forest than Hojlund had in his previous 15 appearances. Hojlund only recently snapped a 22-game run without scoring when he struck against Leicester. In all competitions, he has scored eight goals and set up an additional two.

Zirkzee, the only attacker United signed in the summer, has six goals and two assists. The Dutchman has quietly been impressing in the last few weeks, having been humiliated by his own supporters when his early substitution against Newcastle was cheered by large sections of Old Trafford. He is getting more effective at build-up play and his quick feet can open up opponents. But his greatest strength is still creating danger around the box rather than in it. When he started alone up front against Nottingham Forest, United were largely toothless, leading to Amorim to bring Hojlund on to help.