Bruno Fernandes has gone four Premier League games without a goal or an assist, his longest such run since going seven in April and May 2025. The slump has raised a difficult question for Michael Carrick: should he drop his captain for Sunday’s trip to Leeds?
A day before Manchester United’s visit to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, the club issued a statement on Fernandes. It spoke of an “injury niggle” but stressed there was “nothing to worry about”. His performance in Madrid suggested otherwise.
Perhaps the reference to an injury was meant to soften the criticism that has begun to engulf the club’s 2024-25 Premier League player of the season. His form has become an unexpected problem for Carrick, and a reflection of where United stand more broadly.
Fernandes has so often been United’s saviour, but he is currently their biggest concern. The issue is that when he is not contributing in attack, he offers little else. Combative work without the ball has never been his role or his strength. However, United’s fragility means they cannot afford passengers either.
Is it time to panic?
Benching Fernandes would be a bold call. For starters, who would replace him? Mason Mount would be the obvious option, and Matheus Cunha can also play as a No 10. Both would be experimental picks in choppy waters. Sunday’s trip to Leeds will be considered must-win.
Carrick must also weigh the significance of dropping his talisman. Fernandes is United’s best player and, through all the turmoil, has shown himself to be the true embodiment of Old Trafford’s heart and tradition. If the decision backfires, Carrick opens himself up to even greater criticism. There is no easy answer.
Truthfully, Fernandes has looked off the pace all season. Perhaps his legs were drained by the World Cup this summer. Maybe he is playing close to the pain barrier. More likely, the weight of responsibility is pressing down 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 his performances being so closely tied to the outcome of games, and tired of facing the media as captain when results 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 was betting on one player to summon the spark needed to get back into a hostile game at the Metropolitano, it would be Fernandes.
Carrick’s reliance on his captain
Fernandes has played 96 per cent of 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 do without him.
The manager will surely recognise his captain’s dip. Beyond the numbers, it took Fernandes a remarkable 23 minutes to complete his first pass against Tottenham last weekend. His body language is equally unhelpful. All the familiar frustration is back.
He went through the full range in Madrid: hands on face, hands on head, hands on hips. Finally, he put his hands together and clapped a weary fanbase whose energy and patience appear to be wearing thinner by the week.
Deeper issues at the club
All of this brings wider problems to the surface, highlighted by an extraordinary rant from Lisandro Martinez on Tuesday. His criticism of the club’s hierarchy went viral as quickly as the words left his mouth.
Martinez was really only voicing what most observers believe to be true. United’s squad lacks the talent and depth needed to compete three times a week, and Fernandes’ form is a symptom of that unfortunate fact.
While one side of Manchester is rightly being torn apart for overspending, the other is being criticised for spending too little. That is not Carrick’s fault. It is, as Martinez eloquently put it, a failing of “upstairs”.
The consequences of reluctance to invest beyond a narrow focus on defensive midfielders are now being uncovered on the pitch. The physical toll is most visible among players being overused as a result. But the hope and optimism with which this campaign began has also eroded quickly.
A crucial weekend at Elland Road
Losing to battle-hardened Leeds at Elland Road this weekend would plunge United into full crisis mode. Daniel Farke will try to exploit that fragility, 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 lift Manchester United out of their own malaise, then who will?