Bruno Fernandes’ role as the captain of Premier League giants Manchester United has often been the subject of much debate.
And Red Devils icon Bryan Robson is one of those who feels that the armband may be better off in different hands.
This is not to say that Robson is not a fan of the prancing Portuguese playmaker. It’s just that the Manchester United legend – who knows what it takes to lead by example having captained the club to their first ever Premier League title back in 1993 – feels that defensively-minded players make better skippers than those with attacking duties.
Is Bruno Fernandes the right Manchester United captain
“I think Bruno (Fernandes) leads by example. He works so hard. He’s a lovely lad around the place, he’s got a great attitude,” Robson tells the No Tippy Tappy Footballpodcast. “But he’s an attacking type of player.
“And I’m always biased in that I think a defender who is looking at the whole pitch, or a central midfield player, I think they are more natural (options) to be captain and to be an inflejnce on the team.”
Robson, famously known as ‘Captain Marvel’ during his time in United red due to his almost superhuman ability to grabb a game by the scruff of the neck and bend it to his will, feels that there are two other members of Erik ten Hag’s dressing room who may be more fitting recipients of the armband.
Ironically, one of Robson’s picks actually lost the captaincy when Ten Hag handed the reigns to Fernandes last summer.
Bryan Robson hails Harry Maguire revival
“I just feel the organisation of a team should be from somebody who is really vocal and quite aggressive in the game and the tone. Thats how I see my captain,” adds the now-67-year-old Robson.
“So Bruno, even though I love him and I think he’s a great player, my captain would probably be somebody else in the squad.
“I actually see it in Harry (Maguire) now, where he’s taking that responsibility on. He knows he has come through a bad period and he had to get that into his game; organisation and demanding people around him.
“I think he’s brought that into his game now.”
In Ten Hag’s defence, Maguire’s Man United career looked all-but over when he lost the armband in July. The England international was expected to depart for West Ham, and few would have imagined that a man so maligned would arguably blossom into Ten Hag’s most reliable centre-half nine months on.
Robson’s other pick, meanwhile, is one of a number of high-earning and ageing players likely to be let go by a club planning to trim the wage bill and replace experience with youthful exuberance.
Casemiro could leave Old Trafford this summer
“Casemiro, he is an organiser,” Robson adds. “He tells people what he wants on a football pitch. You can see him, when the goalkeeper plays out from the back, the two centre-backs (split) and Casemiro, when he sees people pressing, he goes ‘no, I’m going to kick it long’.”
That, of course, is not an attribute which pleases everyone quite as much as it does Robson, the Brazilian’s tendency to punt rather aimless balls up the pitch in stark contrast to Ten Hag’s build-from-the-back blueprint.
“You can see he’s got something about him where he understands the game, reads it and goes; ‘no, we’re not doing that. Let’s press up the park’,” Robson argues.
“He will take that responsibility on, and that’s what he has to do.”
