Kenny Cunningham joins Stephen Doyle after Manchester United's 7-0 loss to Liverpool to discuss Bruno Fernandes.
Liverpool somehow beat Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield.
It was a record-setting scoreline. A game that nobody saw coming. You never see a 7-0 result between two top-six sides coming, but considering each team's season so far, this was especially surprising. Mohamed Salah won man of the match and scored two goals.
Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez also scored two goals, while Roberto Firmino scored off the bench after announcing he will soon depart the club.
But this game was maybe most significant for Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese central attacker has mostly enjoyed this season. He has been reborn since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. He was central to Manchester United's run to Cup success and his form is better than it's been in recent years. But the question marks over his attitude have always lingered.
During the 7-0 loss, Gary Neville didn't hold back in criticizing him. Neville mentioned one or two United players who stood out for the wrong reasons, Luke Shaw being one of note, but he didn't lambast anyone the way he did Fernandes. It was especially noteworthy that Fernandes was reportedly complaining he wasn't subbed off when Marcus Rashford was late in the game.
Kenny Cunningham agreed with Neville's sentiments, but he pointed to a different moment as his evidence.
"There was one moment in that second half," Cunnningham said.
"We mentioned it live on the commentary. When Bruno Fernandes got done one-on-one, against Bajcectic close to the touchline, and he just gave it up. He gave it up. He stopped running, he walked back into the center of the pitch as Bajcectic was running down the touchline.
"Almost saying, 'I'm not interested in this, one of you can deal with it.' Absolutely no way ten Hag will accept that."
Cunningham expects ten Hag to have a private conversation with Fernandes and warn him about his behavior. It's not an isolated incident and he is one of the most important players at the club. Therefore, ten Hag needs him to lead by example instead of ignoring his responsibilities.
Ten Hag engages problems. He has one of his biggest tests so far rebounding from this loss.
Mark Lawrenson on playing with Graeme Souness.
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