Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has responded on social media after coming under fire again in the wake of last weekend’s disappointing defeat at Tottenham

Bruno Fernandes has seemingly hit back at his critics on social media after the Manchester United captain’s behaviour was branded “pathetic” by Micah Richards.

Fernandes, 28, was handed the club captaincy on a permanent basis by Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman ᵴtriƥped Harry Maguire of the armband during the summer break, but the decision was questioned by several pundits who have criticised Fernandes’ body language in the past.

The Portuguese midfielder has cut a frustrated figure during Manchester United’s opening Premier League fixtures – and Richards directly hit out at Fernandes’ antics following last weekend’s chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards said: “It’s getting embarrassing now. The young lad Pellistri comes on, Fernandes is trying to get his team playing and I totally understand he’s frustrated.

“Pellistri made a run, Fernandes didn’t see him and [so] he made a different run but because he wasn’t where [Fernandes] wanted him to be, he’s going off at Pellistri. It’s every time.

“I saw an interview with him the other day and he said he needs to be emotional when he performs because it makes him play better. But I feel like his body language on the pitch is disturbing the rest of the team and it’s just not a good look at all. It’s pathetic at times.”

Bruno Fernandes appears to have hit back at his critics on his social media account ( Image: MUTV)

Plenty of other pundits, including Chris Sutton, have also questioned the decision to hand Fernandes such a prominent leadership role. But the United skipper has bit back at his critics via his Instagram story, where he posted a clip of former Super Bowl winner Deion Sanders sharing a defiant message about not caring what others think.

Sanders says in the clip: “Look at me. What about me would make you think that I care about your opinion of me? Your opinion of me is not the opinion that I have of myself. You ain’t make me, so you can’t break me. You didn’t build me, so you can’t 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 me.”

Despite criticism from figures in the media, Ten Hag has backed Fernandes on several occasions since the midfielder became Maguire’s regular deputy last season. The Dutchman even branded talk questioning Fernandes’ leadership s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s as “crazy” back in May.

After announcing Fernandes as the club’s new permanent captain last month, Ten Hag explained his decision, saying: “A good team is always covering areas as leaders, team players, multi-functional players, specialists, individualists. But you need some leaders in the team, on the pitch, who are guiding the team, who are building the team, who are controlling the quality of the performance. And one has to wear the [arm]band and we chose, I chose, Bruno because he is a great inspiration. He is an example.

“He always wants to be a better football player, working very hard to give his maximum performance. So he is the mirror for many players and he is a good social connector.

“He is also very good at game understanding. So, for a manager, it’s very good to have that intermediary on the pitch. So those are some reasons, but he can’t do it alone. We need more help. We need more leaders to have a strong bond and who can point a team in the right direction.”

Soυrce: thesun