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Bruno Fernandes question raised after Ruben Amorim's Manchester United bombshell
by Jack Flintham · Manchester Evening NewsManchester United losing this season has been a common occurrence and it could be easy to get complacent about their bad form.
However, to do so would be to let a lot of this team off the hook. From start to finish, the one constant has been this squad, and frankly, they have performed far below expectations.
This team on paper is by no means a lower-table side, but their performances have been more akin to relegation fodder. In recent weeks, bad performances have been excused by United's successful Europa League run, but that was a non-factor against West Ham.
This relatively strong United side should have put the Hammers to the sword as they basked in the result from last Thursday night. Instead, they wiltered and consigned this club to a 17th Premier League defeat of the campaign.
After the final whistle, Amorim dropped a bombshell which he doesn't deserve to contemplate. "It's not the players' fault," the Portuguese head coach falsely explained.
"It's my fault, I'm responsible. If we cannot change that really fast, we should give our place to different persons."
The obvious insinuation here is that he would resign from his position, and as is shown by United fans at every match, that would be an unwelcome decision. It is Amorim's name they chant, not that of the majority of this squad.
One of the few players who is still hailed by the Stretford End is Bruno Fernandes. He has been one of the rare individual bright sparks in this team.
Without his 19 goals and 19 assists, who knows where this team would be? Well, we could soon be about to find out.
If Amorim were to leave, a head coach who Fernandes has respected since he managed his beloved Sporting, that could be his final straw with this club. He has delivered above and beyond in the worst United team in Premier League history.
He has had to be a leader while numerous off-field dramas engulfed the club; who would begrudge him a contract at Al Hilal that would set him and his family up for life? He remains in Manchester through the hope of pushing this institution back to its previous glory.
At some point, though, you have to accept a lost cause, and if Amorim were to call it quits on United, that could be enough to tip Fernandes over the edge.
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