Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane has torn into Bruno Fernandes and his teammates for prioritising the Premier League assist record over victory against Nottingham Forest.
History maker
Fernandes has enjoyed a superb season, playing a crucial role in United’s qualification for the Champions League after a two-year absence.
Restored to his preferred playmaking position by Michael Carrick, he has kicked up a new level since the turn of the year and is arguably playing the best football of his career.
The Portugal international ran the show for United yet again over the weekend, helping them to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest. Beyond the win, the game was even more special for Fernandes because he hit 20 assists, matching Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry for the Premier League record.
He could have gone beyond them and clear at the top, though, considering how many gilt-edged chances he carved out for his teammates, only for most to be wasted.
When Bryan Mbeumo finally put away one of Fernandes’ chances, the relief on the players’ faces was obvious as they rushed over to their captain to celebrate with him and offer their congratulations. Fernandes was honoured with a gift by Omar Berrada at the full-time whistle, while he also drew special praise from Carrick.
That said, not everyone’s happy about what he’s done. Keane took exception to it on the latest Stick to Football podcast episode.
Keane’s rant
The Irishman said, “I think what I heard at United at the weekend… honestly, I was raging with it. The whole chat about his assists. And everyone’s talking about assists, he did an interview after the match, after the game, and I was watching him and everyone was talking about assists and even the players were… It was all, the game was about his assists.”
“That’s the whole talk.”
“After the game he got interviewed and he said in his interview, the captain of Man United, he said, ‘Yeah, a few times I probably should’ve…’ He said this himself, ‘I should have shot but, uh, I made them passes’. Wow! How can your mindset of a footballer be going out to a match and be talking about some individual recognition?”
“He’s going to get all them stats anyway. But for it to be the main point about Man United’s performance the weekend, I was cringing with all of them. And all the players when he got the assist, going over to him – What about the guy who scored the goal?!”
Gary Neville tried to defend Fernandes by pointing out that the captain had made it clear he prefers team trophies, but Keane wasn’t having any of it.
Keane added, “He won’t be winning trophies. Not with that mindset of the team, where they’ve given up two goals and everyone’s getting all giddy because he’s equalled a record for assists. It’s mind-boggling. It’s mind-boggling.”
“It’s a circus act. Bruno gives a pass and he misses it. What did Bruno do after he missed it? You watched it. Why is he falling on the f***ing floor? Excuse me. He wasn’t disappointed for the striker who’s having a bit of a difficult spell and missed a couple of chances. He’s thinking about his assist, and he doesn’t—he doesn’t get his assist.”
United are next in action on Sunday when they go away to Brighton in their final game of the season.
Featured image by Molly Darlington/Getty Images
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