Bruno Fernandes branded ‘proper captain' for his miserable trophy ‘celebration' after Man Utd win Prem Summer Series

The Sun

2 days ago

BRUNO FERNANDES has been branded a "proper captain" after his miserable reaction to winning the Premier League Summer Series trophy.
United drew 2-2 with Everton to remain unbeaten in pre-season and win the US tournament - which also featured West Ham and Bournemouth.
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But after an underwhelming showing from United, skipper Fernandes looked less than thrilled after being presented with their trophy.
The Portuguese playmaker, 29, collected the silverware, trudged over to his team-mates , gave them a little nod to come and join him and sulkily plonked the trophy on the "winners" hoarding, refusing to even lift it.
But Man Utd fans loved the gloomy reaction, with one taking to X to write: "Huge fan of how Bruno has acted here.
"Not even a fake trophy lift. Proper captain with a winning mentality."
Other supporters reacted with "awkward" and "cold" emojis, reflecting the torn view for winning the pre-season trophy.
Fernandes scored, laid on an assist and won Man of the Match for the second time in three games during the 2-2 draw.
But the captain was frustrated having seen his side twice pegged back to throw away a winning position - calling his team-mates "lazy".
After the game, Fernandes ranted: "Our performance wasn't the best off the ball… we were a little bit lazy.
"We have to avoid that because the laziness you can pay at any moment.
"It's improving. It's not where we want it to be."
Fernandes then appeared to criticise club chiefs as he demanded they sign more talent to the under-performing squad.
The United captain continued: "I don't want to have a dig at anyone, but obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here.
"We needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more, to have to do more to get into the starting XI.
"I think that's what the club and the manager are trying to do, and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that."
Fernandes insisted the club must never relax for a moment as they're so "global" - and that means getting the side back to the top of English football after an abysmal 2024-25 saw them finish 15th and trophyless.
He said: "Every small detail matters. At this football club you can't do anything wrong on the pitch and off the pitch because it's too big worldwide and you get punished by that.
"You get the attention of the media and your fans and you have to be aware of that.
"At this club the culture here was winning and we need to bring that back. Not only the winning mentality that we need, and I think that's always been there, but obviously if you don't win you don't show it.
"The club is trying to improve other things. The facilities have improved, we tried to improve the team, the staff, a lot of things.
"A lot of people have suffered from this, a lot of people who had been working at the club for many many years had to go.
"The fans are paying more for tickets, and we appreciate all the effort they put in for us, so now it's up to us to pay it back on the pitch."