'Bruno Fernandes is not a leader': Former player criticises Manchester United direction

Manchester United are not experiencing a good phase. The club managed by Ruben Amorim have been collecting negative results and are constantly the target of criticism on and off the pitch.

Due to the poor phase, fingers have been pointed at various people, accusing them of being responsible for the English team's bad results. And even the choice to change the team's captains has also been the target of criticism.

"I do not know why they took the captaincy away from Harry Maguire. Bruno Fernandes is not a leader, he is a great player. I was looking at Harry Maguire in the match against Chelsea and he was there, being physical and aggressive. He talks to his teammates, he is a natural leader," said former English player Gabby Agbonlahor, currently a commentator on talkSPORT.

Bruno Fernandes recovered the captain's armband from Harry Maguire

Harry Maguire arrived at Manchester United in 2020, coming from Leicester City, and took on the captain's armband six months after his arrival at the club. At the end of the 2022-23 European season, under Ten Hag's command, the position was changed.

"After conversations with the manager today, he informed me that he is changing captain. He explained his reasons to me and, although I am extremely disappointed, I will continue giving my best whenever I wear the shirt. I wanted to thank the Manchester United fans immensely for all the brilliant support whilst I wore the armband," wrote Maguire at the time.

"Since the day I took on the role, three and a half years ago, it has been an enormous privilege to lead Manchester United and one of the proudest moments of my career to date. I did everything I could to help United succeed, on and off the pitch. I will always be grateful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for giving me the responsibility and I wish great success to whoever takes it on now," he added.

Man United have worst Premier League start in recent years

Manchester United's season has been one of the worst for the team in recent years. The defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea have accentuated the bad moment being experienced, and made the club give manager Ruben Amorim an ultimatum.

Considering the first four rounds of the Premier League, this is United's worst start to a campaign since 1992-93. At the time, the Reds also accumulated just four points.

So far, in the 2025-26 season, the club have been defeated by Arsenal and City, drew with Fulham, and won only against Burnley, in a laboured manner. In the EFL Cup, they were eliminated by Grimsby Town, a fourth-tier team.

This article was originally published on Trivela.