Bruno Fernandes has suffered a worrying dip in form, and Manchester United have struggled for momentum this season. The question now facing Michael Carrick is whether he should drop his captain. Fernandes has gone four Premier League games without scoring or assisting, his longest run since going seven in April and May 2025.
A day before United’s trip to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, the club issued a statement on their captain. It spoke of an “injury niggle” but stressed there was “nothing to worry about”. His performance on the night suggested otherwise.
Perhaps the reference to an injury was meant to temper the criticism that has begun to engulf last year’s Premier League player of the season. His form has become an unexpected problem for Carrick, and it reflects where United stand more broadly.
So often United’s saviour, Fernandes is currently his side’s scourge. The issue is that when he is not contributing offensively, he offers virtually nothing else. It is clearly not the 32-year-old’s role or repertoire to be combative without the ball. But United’s fragility means they cannot afford to carry passengers either.
Is it too early to push the panic button?
Dropping Fernandes to the bench would be a bold call from Carrick. For starters, who would replace him? Mason Mount would be the obvious choice, and Matheus Cunha can also play as a No 10. Both would be experimental selections in choppy waters. Sunday’s trip to Leeds will be considered a must-win.
Carrick must also weigh the significance of dropping his talisman. Fernandes is United’s best player and, through all the turmoil, he has shown himself to be the true embodiment of Old Trafford heart and tradition. If such a decision backfires, Carrick opens himself up to even greater criticism. There is no easy answer.
Truthfully, though, Fernandes has looked off it all season. Perhaps his legs were drained at the World Cup this summer. Maybe he is playing close to the pain barrier. More likely, the burden of responsibility is weighing heavily on him, the inescapable millstone of being a Manchester United player.
This prolific provider looks tired. He is tired of being the only thread of positivity, tired of being the one whose performance is so tangibly linked with the outcome of games, and tired of facing media critics as captain when those outcomes are unsatisfactory.
“Maybe they need to take Bruno off because he’s not having the best game,” said former captain Wayne Rooney at half-time in Madrid. Yet if Carrick were betting on one player to summon the spark, the moment of quality needed to get back into a hostile game at the Metropolitano, it would still be Fernandes.
Fernandes has played 96 per cent of all available minutes under Carrick. He has been substituted only three times, against Manchester City, Liverpool and at Atletico on Tuesday, and each time it came after the 81st minute. He has been benched just once, in the EFL Cup against Brighton in September. Carrick cannot cope without him.
The manager will surely recognise his captain’s dip. Beyond productivity, and it took Fernandes a remarkable 23 minutes to complete his first pass against Tottenham last weekend, his body language is equally unhelpful. All the usual posturing is back, an outpouring of frustration in physical form.
He went through the full spectrum in Madrid. Hands on face. Hands on head. Hands on hips. Finally, hands together, clapping a weary fanbase whose energy and patience for what they are watching seems to be wearing ever thinner.
Deeper issues on the surface
All of this brings deeper issues to the surface, highlighted by an extraordinary rant from Lisandro Martinez on Tuesday. His comments criticising the club’s hierarchy went viral as quickly as he spoke them.
Ultimately, Martinez was only voicing what most observers believe to be true. United’s squad lacks the talent and depth required to compete three times a week, and Fernandes’ form is symptomatic of that problem. While one side of Manchester is being rightly criticised for spending too much, the other is being charged with spending too little. That is not Carrick’s fault. As Martinez eloquently put it, the failing lies “upstairs”.
The consequences of a reluctance to invest beyond a narrow focus on defensive midfielders are being exposed on the pitch. The physical toll is most visible among those being overplayed as a result. But the hope and optimism with which this campaign began have eroded quickly, too.
Losing to battle-hardened Leeds at Elland Road this weekend would trigger full crisis mode. Daniel Farke will try to exploit that delicacy, and why shouldn’t he? Leeds enter this fixture ahead of United in the table for the first time since September 2002. Few Premier League opponents are as enticing right now.
Because if Bruno Fernandes cannot deliver Manchester United from their own indisposition, then who will?