“It’s not a good one” – Dimitar Berbatov disagrees with Roy Keane over opinion on Manchester United star
Dimitar Berbatov doesn't agree with Roy Keane that Bruno Fernandes should be removed as the Manchester United captain. Berbatov reckons it would be disrespectful to take the armband off the Portuguese star and would be bad for the team morale, too.
The Bulgarian told Betfair that he does not want to see a change in captaincy at Manchester United. He backs Gary Neville's comments but admits that Fernandes has not been at his best this season:
"I saw Gary (Neville) and Roy Keane's comments, and I agree with what Gary said. If you change the captaincy now, then it will only add to the turbulence in the team.
"Now if you take it (captaincy) from Bruno, that will be bad for his morale. If he is removed as Man United captain, then his performances will dip because it's disrespectful to him."
Berbatov continued:
"Bruno will be aware of the criticism regarding his behaviour, and he will need to work on it. The reason for Fernandes' current behaviour is due to how the team is performing. He's not happy with it. I've been there myself, and I know the feeling.
"It's not a good one. When you're the captain and things aren't going well, you need to shout and you need to be angry with the players around you. We know where he's coming from with all this, but I don't think the armband should be taken away from him."
Manchester United have not had the best of starts to their Premier League campaign this season. They have won five and lost as many times, while they have one win in three UEFA Champions League games.
Roy Keane wants Manchester United to strip Bruno Fernandes of his captaincy
Roy Keane was furious with Bruno Fernandes after Manchester United's loss to Manchester City at the weekend. He said that the Portuguese star was not good enough to lead the side and called for a change in captaincy.
On Sky Sports, Keane said that Fernandes was just whinging and moaning on the pitch, something a captain should not be doing. He added that the midfielder is talented but just not captain material:
"Today having watched him again I would take the captaincy off him 100 per cent. I know it's a big decision, obviously they changed the captaincy with Maguire, but Fernandes is not captain material."
Micah Richards said on The Rest Is Football podcast that the Portuguese stat is playing for himself. He called out the midfielder for 'faking it' on the pitch and trying to win over fans by running out of position.