'Bruno Fernandes is not a leader', Erik ten Hag asked to change Man Utd captain

Erik ten Hag has been urged to strip Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United's captaincy by a former Chelsea striker.

This comes after Fernandes' recent outburst during Manchester United's defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

Fernandes has received a lot of criticism after he publicly asked the officials for an apology. The Manchester United skipper was unhappy his side was not awarded a penalty after Alejandro Garnacho's effort inside the box was struck with the arm of Spurs defender Cristian Romero.

Bruno Fernandes asks officials to apologise

While the incident was reviewed by VAR, the on-field referee Michael Oliver signalled for the play to continue, leaving the away side frustrated, especially their captain. After the game, which Manchester United lost 2-0, Fernandes did not hide his emotions as he looked enraged about not getting a penalty.

"I want to see if Jon Moss also comes to apologise to our dressing room like they said he did to the manager of Wolves," said Fernandes, referring to Moss' apology for a non-call on Andre Onana last week.

'Bruno is not a leader'

The Portuguese midfielder has been slammed for his behaviour after Manchester United's loss by many former players, including Chris Sutton. The former Blackburn and Chelsea striker does not believe Fernandes should be the captain anymore – just a month after he replaced Harry Maguire as the club's new captain.

"Absolutely not (the referee wasn't to blame). Bruno Fernandes first and foremost needs to sort himself out, his team out, before looking at referees and their decisions. Bruno Fernandes for me shouldn't be captain of Manchester United, absolutely not, he's not a leader. That basically sums him up.

"It's about taking responsibility as a captain and the bottom line is, the first two performances of the season for Manchester United they have looked like a testimonial team, like a team that's still stuck in pre-season and he needs to turn up and show better leadership qualities - not blaming referees," Sutton said on the "It's All Kicking Off" podcast, according to Mirror.

Rio Ferdinand slams Man Utd, Bruno

Even former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was also left unimpressed with Fernandes' post-match comments.

"I think at this point you've just got to be honest, man. I understand why he's upset, but he probably would have got more out of it by coming out there and going, "You know what, we've been s**t, we ain't been up to the level we expect ourselves to be at and we need to get better, be better and do more.

"I think that blame stuff, he could have gone down the corridor [to the ref] but that's hindsight. Go down the corridor, speak to the referee, whatever. But it's owning that. The performances haven't been great," Ferdinand said on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show.

Bruno was made captain just last month

On July 20, Ferdinand was handed the Manchester United captain's armband after Ten Hag sacked Maguire from the role. After being the Red Devils' skipper for three-and-a-half years, Maguire fell down the pecking order at the club last season under Ten Hag. He is currently their fourth-choice centre-back at Old Trafford.

"Obviously, it's a great honour," said Fernandes after being named captain. Recalling the first time he wore the armband at Manchester United, Fernandes said it was during a UEFA Champions League game against PSG.

Speaking about that game, Fernandes said he was a little bit surprised, but it was such an honour to captain Manchester United. Fernandes also revealed that he still had the armband and shirt from that game.

"I wanted to keep it for me, because this is something that is not for everyone. And it's something that has to make you proud, has to make you understand that you are in a place where everyone would like to be: playing for Manchester United. Having the chance to have the armband and having that responsibility is such a big honour," added Fernandes.