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Former Liverpool star Graeme Souness has suggested that Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes would not be as frustrated as he usually is if he were playing for Manchester City instead.
Often, Fernandes has come under intense criticism from ex-players and pundits for his perceived moaning and whinging at referees and his teammates.
The playmaker has on more than one occasion, been accused of letting his emotions get the best of him, sometimes at the expense of the team, especially when things are not going United’s way.
However, according to Souness who spoke on talkSPORT, Fernandes’ periodic exasperation is drawn from just how poor United are on the pitch.
Souness said, “He is a player. I don’t think he’s a captain. In terms of quality, if he played for Liverpool or if he played for City, he would be a fantastic player. We would not be having this conversation. All this, shaking the head is majorly disappointing.”
“He wouldn’t be losing as many games [at Liverpool or Manchester City] and he wouldn’t be so frustrated. But I accept his body language isn’t great at times and I was majorly disappointed in him in the 7-0 defeat at Anfield last year when he just stopped running back.”
Aside from Fernandes, Souness who was joined by Simon Jordan, also opened up on a few ex-United players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo.
During Jose Mourinho’s first summer in charge after being appointed United boss, the Portuguese coach dipped into the market and signed Ibrahimovic, Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Ibrahimovic quickly endeared himself to United fans as he scored 29 goals in his two-year spell. As United won the Carabao Cup in 2017, the Swede scored twice in a 3-2 victory in the final against Southampton.
Souness told Jordan that he had a conversation with Mourinho and his biggest regret was parting ways with Ibrahimovic, who kept the big egos in the dressing room in check.
The ex-Liverpool man said, “I’ve said it to Mourinho. I said: ‘Do you wish you kept Ibrahimovic?’ He looked at me and said: ‘Why do you say that?’ I said: ‘Because he was your main man who kept them all… [gestures with finger in a circle]. I can remember watching a video – I was at Sky at the time – he had a strong personality. He was doing an interview for Sky, Ibrahimovic.”
“And you know, he is extremely confident, he’s got presence, big guy, and [Paul] Pogba came in and was making [gestures with hand and face]. He dismissed him like a little boy and Pogba left the room with his tail between his legs.”
“I thought, ‘he’s your man in the dressing room, someone who will point the finger and be big enough to put the would-be superstars in their place.’”
On Ronaldo, Souness insisted that the Red Devils would have been best served by retaining the services of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
He argued that Ronaldo’s professionalism and impeccable work ethic would have rubbed off on the younger and less experienced players at the club.
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