Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim might not be winning games but he is not shy of confronting the club's problems head-on. After declaring with all seriousness after the woeful defeat by Newcastle that his team are in a relegation battle, this week he decided to highlight the lack of leaders within his squad.
Amorim brought the subject up while announcing a new contract for Harry Maguire, who was stripped of the captaincy by Erik ten Hag in 2023. The Portuguese coach has told the defender he needs to "improve as a leader", which sounded like an odd thing to say of a player who has admirably fought his way back into the team after Ten Hag tried to sell him to West Ham. And it begged the question: what about the leadership of Bruno Fernandes, the man who took the armband off him?
Fernandes divides opinion like few other players. Many United fans see him as one of the most outstanding players in the squad, an all-action hero who has prevented the Red Devils from sinking yet further into the abyss since joining from Sporting CP five years ago. To those who defend him, the Portuguese has had to carry the team on the back for the bulk of his time at Old Trafford and is the last person to blame for their current status as they sit 14th in the Premier League table, just seven points above the relegation zone.
To his detractors, he is the source of the club's many ills, prone to theatrics, waving his arms around and moaning when things don't go his way, giving the ball away too often and losing his head, such as getting sent off three times in the first half of this season. With United in their lowest moment in the 21st century and on Sunday heading to a formidable Liverpool side who have won four of their last seven league meetings with their arch rivals, scoring 22 goals against them, it is time to ask whether Fernandes is the right man to lead United out of their current mire and spearhead Amorim's project.