Roy Keane ripped into Bruno Fernandes after the Manchester United captain equalled the Premier League assist record.
During Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, one of the main talking points from the match was Bruno Fernandes’ 20th assist.
Bruno Fernandes set up Bryan Mbeumo for United’s third goal, and in the process, he went level with Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry as the only three players to provide 20 assists in a single season.
Fernandes celebrated his achievement, much to the frustration of Roy Keane…
What do you think of Roy Keane blasting Bruno Fernandes’ record breaking assist chase?
Roy Keane’s ‘circus’ criticism of Bruno Fernandes
Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, Keane said he was ‘raging’ at Fernandes for the way the match became about his assist record.
Keane described it as “mind-boggling” and a “circus act”.
“What I heard with United the weekend, honestly, I was raging with it. The whole chat about his assists and players talking about his assists,” Keane said.
“How can the mindset of a footballer be to go into a match and be thinking about some individual record.
“And all of the players going over to him when he got the assist, what about the guy who scored the goal?”
But what Keane fails to understand is that Fernandes does have his sights set on achievements much bigger than his assist record.
HOW impressed are you by Bruno Fernandes equalling Premier League history!
Can he go on to break the record?🤔
Roy Keane has completely missed the point with Bruno Fernandes
Against Nottingham Forest, United had already secured Champions League football and there was very little else to play for.
That is why the narrative became about Fernandes breaking the assist record.
But if Keane listened closely, Fernandes did not want players to celebrate his record, but instead celebrate Bryan Mbeumo’s goal.
“I wanted Bryan to celebrate his goal,” Fernandes said after the match. “I did not want it to revolve around me, because in the end, scoring a goal is the most important thing in football.
“All the credit goes to Bryan, because if he hadn’t put the ball in the back of the net, my record wouldn’t exist.”
Additionally, Fernandes urged United to win collective trophies rather than to celebrate his individual awards. That is his biggest goal, and it has been since he signed in 2020.
When Fernandes chose to stay at United, he set his sights on winning the Premier League and Champions League. That is the sign of a true United captain, and Keane’s comments couldn’t be more wrong about United’s adored captain.
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