Following Roy Keane and Ian Wright’s passionate debate on the merits of Bruno Fernandes, we look at the Manchester United captain’s numbers to make up our own mind.
It is very difficult to avoid hot takes in football.
Passionate opinions on the beautiful game from those who used to play it, random people in gaming chairs, or handsome folk writing for data-focused websites (hmm) are everywhere.
However, when former players the calibre of Roy Keane and Ian Wright talk, you listen, and plenty listened to their recent debate surrounding Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes on the Stick to Football podcast.
Once fighting over the ball in titanic Man Utd vs Arsenal clashes in the Premier League, Keane and Wright now contest modern football topics with contrasting viewpoints over a croissant and a cup of tea.
The seemingly calm setting wasn’t enough to keep the familiar fire from burning in Keane, though, as he outlined why United fans shouldn’t be singing the praises of Fernandes as loudly as they had been in the recent 2-2 draw at Everton. The Portuguese midfielder scored a free-kick to help turn the game in the second half after United had trailed 2-0 at half-time at Goodison Park.
There was a moment in the build-up to Everton’s second goal prior to that, though, where Fernandes came under scrutiny.
After his long pass to Rasmus Højlund had been cut out by Everton’s Jake O’Brien, the ball went to Abdoulaye Doucouré.
Fernandes raced to close down the midfielder, but Doucouré turned and the United captain veered away in acceptance that he wasn’t going to recover, never really getting within five yards of his opponent. The Everton midfielder played a simple pass to Jesper Lindstrøm to start the move that ended with Doucouré heading in Everton’s second goal just 12 seconds later.
Though he didn’t specify it, the assumption is that Keane’s comments were in relation to that incident.
Keane said: “We watched [Fernandes] in the FA Cup a few weeks ago [vs Leicester City], I watch him at Everton on Saturday, people pretend to be closing people down.”
Wright, on the other hand, believed Fernandes’ ability to drag his team back into the game with moments on the ball meant he was far from the main person to blame for United’s issues, and riposted: “Who’s bringing the team back into the game? It’s not Bruno [to blame] when we’re talking about somebody who can actually do something to save [United]. It’s Bruno who’s doing it.”
Keane wasn’t having it, though, saying: “They’re 15th in the league, and he’s saving them? Praise the Lord.” He later added: “Talent is not enough!”
When Wright alluded to Fernandes ‘saving’ United, Keane responded: “What’s he saving? 2-2 at Everton… we saw him [vs] Leicester and he didn’t even get a kick!
“When they go out on that pitch, show some courage, want the ball. When you close somebody down, close them down properly.”
Keane was not denying that Fernandes is a supremely talented player, but seemingly suggesting that, as captain, he was the figure most culpable for United’s malaise, pointing to an alleged lack of leadership and effort off the ball.
He also accused Fernandes of not doing enough in the 2-1 FA Cup win over Leicester City last month, though that seemed a little unfair when you look at the stats. Only defenders Noussair Mazraoui, Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire recorded more than his 63 passes in the game for United, while Fernandes created more chances than any of his teammates (3), made the most passes in the final third (24) and attempted the most crosses (5), including a pin-point free-kick at the death for Maguire’s dramatic – albeit controversial – winner.
It’s no secret that United are enduring a bad 2024-25 campaign. After 27 games they sit 14th in the top-flight table, nine points off the top half; barring a miracle, it’ll be their worst season in Premier League history.
They travel to Real Sociedad on Thursday for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last-16 tie, with it being their last chance of a trophy this season.
United were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Tottenham at the quarter-final stage, and their defence of the FA Cup came to an end on Sunday in the fifth round when they were beaten on penalties by Fulham at Old Trafford.
That game had again highlighted the importance of Fernandes, though. United trailed 1-0 to Calvin Bassey’s header and looked bereft of ideas until their captain swept home an equaliser with a lovely first-time finish on his left foot. It ultimately wasn’t enough, but it was otherwise difficult to see where a United goal would have come from.
Along with scoring their only goal, Fernandes led all United players in the game for shots on target (3), chances created (4), passes completed (48) and possession recoveries (10).
And as Wright was arguing, Fernandes comes to the rescue regularly for his side.
Since his debut for the Red Devils on 1 February 2020, only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (120) has won more points for his team in the Premier League with goals or assists. Fernandes has 108 Premier League goal involvements in 185 games, which have won United 76 points.
In all competitions, Fernandes has 90 goals and 78 assists in 273 games for United. His first full season in 2020-21 was remarkable, scoring 28 goals and tallying 18 assists. He hasn’t reached 20 goals since but has always managed double figures, while he has recorded 13 assists in each of the last three seasons. He’s already on the same number again in 2024-25, so needs just one more to beat it for the first time since that 2020-21 campaign.
In terms of chance creation, though, Fernandes is a numbers machine. Since his United debut, he has created at least 90 more chances than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues (506, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne – 416), and more chances from open play than anyone else by at least 61 (385, ahead of Salah – 324).
Fernandes has created the most chances in the Premier League in three of his four full seasons (second behind Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2021-22) and the most chances from open play also in three of four full campaigns (second behind Martin Ødegaard in 2023-24).
However, like many of his teammates, he has suffered a dip in 2024-25. He is only fourth for chances created (59) in the Premier League this season behind Cole Palmer (69), Dejan Kulusevski (63) and Salah (63), and joint 10th for chances created from open play.
Fernandes is averaging his fewest chances created from open play per 90 (1.55) since joining United, having averaged at least 2.16 in each previous full season. This dip can partly be attributed to the team’s overall struggles, but both Amad Diallo (1.64) and Casemiro (1.60) are averaging more open-play chances created in the Premier League this season (minimum 500 minutes played).
As mentioned, though, Keane wasn’t really questioning Fernandes’ talent on the ball. It is his work off it he was seemingly calling into question.
Looking at his pressures data – when a player from the defending team approaches the player in possession with the aim of either winning back the ball or limiting their passing options – Fernandes appears to be doing plenty.
He has recorded the fourth most pressures of all players in the Premier League this season (803) and most pressures in the middle third of the pitch (419). Although that doesn’t necessarily mean much, given his half-hearted attempt at stopping Doucouré mentioned previously will technically have counted as a pressure, only four midfielders in England’s top flight have made more than Fernandes’ 87 pressures resulting in a turnover.
In this season’s Europa League, of all Manchester United players, Fernandes has applied the most pressures (447), well ahead of Højlund in second (276). He has also recorded 294 high pressures – when pressuring players are within 0-2 metres – at least 100 more than any of his United teammates.
It was the same in last season’s Champions League campaign, where Fernandes again recorded more pressures than any of his teammates (536). In addition, both he and Højlund made at least 150 more high-intensity pressures than any other United player.
Even if he didn’t do so in that Everton incident, Fernandes does win the ball back for his team regularly. Only Mazraoui (80) has made more tackles for United in the Premier League this season than him (59), while no Red Devils midfielder has made more than his 20 interceptions.
No United player has won possession more often than Fernandes in the Premier League this season (140 – level with Diogo Dalot). In fact, of midfielders in England’s top flight, only four (Moisés Caicedo, Ryan Christie, Ryan Gravenberch and Lewis Cook) have won possession for their team more often.
Of course, the upheaval of a change in manager part-way through the season is enough to cause some inconsistencies, but has Ruben Amorim replacing Erik ten Hag impacted Fernandes much?
Having played the majority of his minutes under Ten Hag in an attacking midfield role, there were question marks about whether the 30-year-old would fit into his compatriot’s system, potentially needing to slot in as a wide forward or deeper midfielder. True enough, he has been deployed in both roles.
Despite that, Fernandes has seen some of his stats improve since Amorim arrived. In the nine Premier League games before Ten Hag was sacked in late October, he averaged just 1.3 chances created per 90, which has doubled to 2.6 in the 15 league outings under Amorim. His possession won per 90 is up from 4.6 to 6.5; his possession won in the final third is up to 0.9 from 0.5; and he is attempting more passes per 90 (64.1, up from 53.8).
He is also taking fewer shots (2.4, down from 3.4), which could mean he feels less pressured to take everything on himself, though United generally aren’t attempting as many. They averaged 14.4 shots per Premier League game this season under Ten Hag, which has dropped to 12.5 under Amorim.
One area where United’s captain could be criticised is his discipline. He was sent off in the 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham in September, albeit the subsequent appeal led to a ban being rescinded, but he failed to learn the lesson from that admittedly harsh red card, getting himself sent off again in the 3-3 draw at Porto in the Europa League just a few days later. He saw red again in the 2-0 defeat at Wolves on Boxing Day.
In defence of Keane, many will agree with his take. He was a widely respected and very successful United captain who led by example with a fire in his belly that evidently still exists years after his retirement. It must be difficult to see his former team struggling, and it’s not a leap to suggest that in subconsciously wishing he could turn back the clock to help them, he is also angered that he doesn’t see his own attributes in the current United skipper.
Wright is also correct to argue that there’s more than one way to lead, and whoever people think is to blame for the Red Devils’ poor 2024-25, singling out their most influential player feels a tad harsh.
It is reasonable to question whether Fernandes is an ideal figure to be a captain, but there can be very little doubt that his contributions since arriving in Manchester have been largely outstanding.
It’s a huge week for Manchester United. After their game with La Real on Thursday, they host old rivals Arsenal three days later as they look to climb their way back up the Premier League table.
Fernandes will be expected to step up in those games and show that he is far more of a solution than a problem.
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