Wayne Rooney has urged Michael Carrick to take Bruno Fernandes out of the Manchester United team before he ‘explodes’.
The United and England legend fears Fernandes is ‘fed up’ with how things are going and is a ticking bomb close to saying something potentially damaging.
Fernandes, 32, has struggled this season and has been carrying an injury for around a month. Michael Carrick has insisted that nobody is ‘undroppable’.
And Rooney said on Stick to United: ‘He’s fed up. I genuinely do think he looks “oh here we go again”.
‘There are only so many times. He has carried the team, but sometimes you need taking out of that position, of that role, to breathe again. I feel like now you can see it building up and there’s going to be an explosion with him if this carries on.
‘He’s not scared to come out and voice his opinion. So there is going to be that explosion if this carries on the way it’s going.
Wayne Rooney says Bruno Fernandes needs to be taken out of the Manchester United team before he ‘explodes’
Fernandes, 32, has cut a frustrated and ineffective figure so far this campaign
‘For me you need that three in midfield at the minute because they’re getting outrun, they’re getting outplayed.
‘All of a sudden then you’ve got [Kobbie] Mainoo and [Youri] Tielemans, who are both not the quickest and not the most mobile, to cover the full width of the pitch as two midfield players, and they can’t do it.’
Fernandes has had a quiet season by his high standards. He has only created one ‘big chance’ – a superb long ball for Bryan Mbeumo against Ipswich – and is making just 2.6 chances per 90 minutes, his second-lowest total of any season with United.
It is a stark contrast to his superhuman run at the end of last season, where he scored or assisted 12 goals in the last 11 games to help them qualify for the Champions League.
The Portuguese notched 12 assists over the course of the Premier League campaign, a joint-record alongside Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.
But he has been unable to match that this campaign, and United are suffering, sat 13th in the Premier League with one win in six games.
On Saturday he stalked out of Old Trafford with his head down, looking frustrated, after the Red Devils squandered a 1-0 lead to draw 1-1 with ten-man Tottenham.
Fernandes’ performance was a microcosm of United’s, with the Portuguese playmaker not completing his first pass against Tottenham until the 23rd minute.
Fernandes looked dejected as he left Old Trafford on Saturday after the 1-1 Tottenham draw
He has been playing consistently despite carrying a knock.
Carrick said: ‘It happens a lot, people don’t maybe realise it, but it happens a lot, players play with issues.
‘I probably played 80 per cent of the games with some sort of issue as you go through your career. It’s not ideal, but it’s kind of manageable.
‘Some players are able to play with a bit more than or a bit less than others, and Bruno was able to play the games and that’s the commitment that he’s got to do that.
‘He’s pretty much over it. It’s still there slightly, but as I said, I could go through the whole squad, pointing at little bits here and there.
‘Right now it’s not a major deal, he’s in good shape and he was really bright this morning, looking forward to the game.’
