📂 Categoría: Football,Premier League | 📅 Fecha: 1777621883
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Anyone who claims Bruno Fernandes should win Player of the Year this season is a joke.
That is the view of talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, who shocked the Fiery Friday panel with his impassioned case for why the Manchester United captain should NOT receive the highest individual accolade on offer this season – the PFA award, which is voted for by his fellow professionals and won by Mohamed Salah in 2025.
In a campaign that’s been one to forget for the Red Devils, Fernandes has enjoyed personal success as he closes in on the all-time record for number of assists in a Premier League season.
But Durham is having none of it as he began on the latest episode of Fiery Fridays, sitting next to two Manchester United fans in Alex Crook and Angelina Kelly: “My tolerance level has piqued with people banging on, droning on, whining on about Bruno Fernandes and his assist stats.
“And he’s going to break some record or other apparently. First of all, assist stats. I mean, do they really mean that much? They’re a little guide.
“Yes, you can use them fine. But what was this assist? Was it a pass to somebody who smacked in a beauty in the top corner from 30 yards, is that really an assist?
“Anyway, besides that, let’s just say Bruno Fernandes’ assist stats should carry an asterisk. Someone said to me the other day that Bruno Fernandes should be player of the year.
“I haven’t laughed so much since I caught on video Alex Crook, the chief football correspondent, doing the YMCA in a bar near Wembley. And he’s still paying me for keeping that video.”
Bruno’s season should be asterisked
Fernandes has recorded 19 assists in the league this term, meaning he’s one off the record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
The Portugal international’s upturn in form has also helped Man United recover from a terrible start to the season with the Red Devils set to get back into the Champions League as they lie third in the Premier League table with four games to go.
However, Durham argues that the fact Man United had been knocked out of all cup competitions by January means Fernandes has had fewer matches play and thus has it easier physically than his rivals for the Player of the Year crown.
Durham continued: “Bruno Fernandes is basically taking a year off football this season. He’s having a year long holiday. And for Bruno, this whole season should be asterisked.
“And people fawning over him are a total joke. He won’t even play 40 games this season. It’s pathetic.
“Declan Rice and Rayan Cherki have played 50 already with more to come. Nico O’Reilly is on 49 and he’s a baby. Martin Zubimendi is on 51 already with more to come.
“These are proper contenders, not someone who’s turning up once a week and isn’t even in double figures goals. And by the way, of his eight goals this season – only eight goals – just one was against the top side.
“And even then, that was Chelsea, so it doesn’t even count. So he’s got a big number of assists, okay? Fair enough.
“But of course, he looks good when he’s been part of a side that’s only playing Premier League games.
“He was one of the reasons United aren’t in Europe this season. He was on the pitch when they got knocked out of the League Cup by Grimsby. Lauding someone’s assist stats in their laziest season ever is praising failure.
“He doesn’t have the pressure or the physical cost of multiple competitions.
“Show some respect to proper footballers by leaving him out of the player of the year conversation. Stick an asterisk next to the assist tally because he’s got his numbers up by not bothering with any other competitions.
“Just finally on this. A season of just 40 games is an embarrassment for a club like Manchester United.
“So Captain Calamity can stick all his assist stats in the bin because he got them by taking a week off between games, which is something top footballers don’t do.”
Not my captain
Fiery Fridays is a place to air strong opinions, but Durham had talkSPORT co-hosts Crooky and Angelina – both Man United fans – stunned.
It was put to Durham that while Fernandes’ schedule isn’t as busy as usual, the fact he’s gone and recorded as many assists as he has and performed well in matches should be celebrated anyway.
But Durham doubled down, as he added that Fernandes isn’t captain material.
He said: “I’m baffled by this.
“How can Man United fans be celebrating this season when it is so embarrassing and he’s a part of it?
“I pointed out to you two a couple of weeks ago that he did an interview very recently in a British newspaper whereby he said that actually they were basically wrong to sack Ruben Amorim.
“They were wrong to sack him because they had, in his words, something going under Ruben Amorim.
“When asked about Michael Carrick and how it was going, he said, well, anyone could look good in spells.
“So is this really somebody who’s being fully supportive of what’s going on at the football club? That’s not a proper captain to me.
“You should be embarrassed by this. You should be embarrassed by this. But typical Man United fans, they latch on to somebody they think is a hero because they’ve got nothing else to latch on to.
“It’s so easy for Man United this season. This season isn’t the test.”
Catch up on the biggest talking points every day, including Fiery Fridays, with the talkSPORT Daily podcast
Anyone who claims Bruno Fernandes should win Player of the Year this season is a joke.
That is the view of talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, who shocked the Fiery Friday panel with his impassioned case for why the Manchester United captain should NOT receive the highest individual accolade on offer this season – the PFA award, which is voted for by his fellow professionals and won by Mohamed Salah in 2025.
In a campaign that’s been one to forget for the Red Devils, Fernandes has enjoyed personal success as he closes in on the all-time record for number of assists in a Premier League season.
But Durham is having none of it as he began on the latest episode of Fiery Fridays, sitting next to two Manchester United fans in Alex Crook and Angelina Kelly: “My tolerance level has piqued with people banging on, droning on, whining on about Bruno Fernandes and his assist stats.
“And he’s going to break some record or other apparently. First of all, assist stats. I mean, do they really mean that much? They’re a little guide.
“Yes, you can use them fine. But what was this assist? Was it a pass to somebody who smacked in a beauty in the top corner from 30 yards, is that really an assist?
“Anyway, besides that, let’s just say Bruno Fernandes’ assist stats should carry an asterisk. Someone said to me the other day that Bruno Fernandes should be player of the year.
“I haven’t laughed so much since I caught on video Alex Crook, the chief football correspondent, doing the YMCA in a bar near Wembley. And he’s still paying me for keeping that video.”
Bruno’s season should be asterisked
Fernandes has recorded 19 assists in the league this term, meaning he’s one off the record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
The Portugal international’s upturn in form has also helped Man United recover from a terrible start to the season with the Red Devils set to get back into the Champions League as they lie third in the Premier League table with four games to go.
However, Durham argues that the fact Man United had been knocked out of all cup competitions by January means Fernandes has had fewer matches play and thus has it easier physically than his rivals for the Player of the Year crown.
Durham continued: “Bruno Fernandes is basically taking a year off football this season. He’s having a year long holiday. And for Bruno, this whole season should be asterisked.
“And people fawning over him are a total joke. He won’t even play 40 games this season. It’s pathetic.
“Declan Rice and Rayan Cherki have played 50 already with more to come. Nico O’Reilly is on 49 and he’s a baby. Martin Zubimendi is on 51 already with more to come.
“These are proper contenders, not someone who’s turning up once a week and isn’t even in double figures goals. And by the way, of his eight goals this season – only eight goals – just one was against the top side.
“And even then, that was Chelsea, so it doesn’t even count. So he’s got a big number of assists, okay? Fair enough.
“But of course, he looks good when he’s been part of a side that’s only playing Premier League games.
“He was one of the reasons United aren’t in Europe this season. He was on the pitch when they got knocked out of the League Cup by Grimsby. Lauding someone’s assist stats in their laziest season ever is praising failure.
“He doesn’t have the pressure or the physical cost of multiple competitions.
“Show some respect to proper footballers by leaving him out of the player of the year conversation. Stick an asterisk next to the assist tally because he’s got his numbers up by not bothering with any other competitions.
“Just finally on this. A season of just 40 games is an embarrassment for a club like Manchester United.
“So Captain Calamity can stick all his assist stats in the bin because he got them by taking a week off between games, which is something top footballers don’t do.”
Not my captain
Fiery Fridays is a place to air strong opinions, but Durham had talkSPORT co-hosts Crooky and Angelina – both Man United fans – stunned.
It was put to Durham that while Fernandes’ schedule isn’t as busy as usual, the fact he’s gone and recorded as many assists as he has and performed well in matches should be celebrated anyway.
But Durham doubled down, as he added that Fernandes isn’t captain material.
He said: “I’m baffled by this.
“How can Man United fans be celebrating this season when it is so embarrassing and he’s a part of it?
“I pointed out to you two a couple of weeks ago that he did an interview very recently in a British newspaper whereby he said that actually they were basically wrong to sack Ruben Amorim.
“They were wrong to sack him because they had, in his words, something going under Ruben Amorim.
“When asked about Michael Carrick and how it was going, he said, well, anyone could look good in spells.
“So is this really somebody who’s being fully supportive of what’s going on at the football club? That’s not a proper captain to me.
“You should be embarrassed by this. You should be embarrassed by this. But typical Man United fans, they latch on to somebody they think is a hero because they’ve got nothing else to latch on to.
“It’s so easy for Man United this season. This season isn’t the test.”
Catch up on the biggest talking points every day, including Fiery Fridays, with the talkSPORT Daily podcast
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📚 Información de la Fuente
| 📰 Publicación: | talksport.com |
| ✍️ Autor: | Jackson Cole |
| 📅 Fecha Original: | 2026-05-01 07:35:00 |
| 🔗 Enlace: | Ver artículo original |
Nota de transparencia: Este artículo ha sido traducido y adaptado del inglés al español para facilitar su comprensión. El contenido se mantiene fiel a la fuente original, disponible en el enlace proporcionado arriba.
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