"They are not going to do it with him" - Danny Murphy claims Manchester United can't win the PL and UCL with Bruno Fernandes as captain

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has told Manchester United they will not win the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League with Bruno Fernandes as the captain. He claimed that the Portuguese midfielder diving around would not reflect the team well.

Fernandes has been in the limelight for the last few days after his antics in the Red Devils' 7-0 thrashing at Liverpool at Anfield on March 5. He was called out for diving around at Anfield to try and win penalties and freekicks and break the Reds' momentum.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy did not take it lightly and took shots at the Portuguese ace. He claimed that the midfielder is not the captain Manchester United needed and said:

"I think short-term Ten Hag has done the right thing because he's not being dictated to by external forces, but long-term I don't think he's the United captain. I don't think you can have a captain consistently behaving like Fernandes does."

He added:

"Let me get one thing right, he's a terrific talent, a super player, I'm not judging his playing ability, but as a captain of one of the biggest clubs in the world, you need to have a certain few things about you, and one of them is NOT constantly cheating and diving – that's his biggest one."

Murphy claimed that Fernandes is not captain material as he said:

"Diving in the box when there's no-one around to try and get a penalty, throwing his arms up in the air every time he doesn't get a pass or when someone doesn't quite do what he wants – that's not a leader, that's not someone encouraging his teammates."

He added:

"This ain't a captain of Manchester United moving forward if they want to compete and win back the Premier League and become Champions League winners. They are not going to do it with him as captain."

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Bruno Fernandes denies asking to be subbed off in Manchester United defeat

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville was on commentary for the game against Liverpool and suggested that Fernandes had asked to be taken off. This certainly added to the criticism of the midfielder from fans and pundits alike.

However, the Portuguese midfielder has denied the suggestions and claimed that he was only asking for instructions from the bench (via The Sun).