Manchester United captain Peter Schmeichel has urged Ruben Amorim to remove Bruno Fernandes from the captaincy role, as the former goalkeeper questioned the Portuguese midfielder's body language on the pitch. United are on a high following their brilliant win over rivals Liverpool in the Premier League last Sunday as the Red Devils picked up their first win at Anfield in almost a decade.
Man Utd's back-to-back wins in Premier League after difficult start
United picked up consecutive victories in the Premier League for the first time since Amorim took charge of the club in November 2024 as they beat Liverpool 2-1 last Sunday. They had collected a win at home to Sunderland just before the October international break. Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for the Red Devils with an early strike but Cody Gakpo brought the Reds back into the game after the break. However, Harry Maguire delivered the match-winning goal with a clinical header from Fernandes' pinpoint cross towards the end of the match.
Red Devils icon Schmeichel was highly impressed by Maguire's performance, who featured in the starting lineup only the third time in the league this season. The former goalkeeper even recommended Maguire to take back the club's captaincy as he urged Amorim to consider changing the leader of the side.
AdvertisementGetty'I can’t praise him enough'
Speaking to at full-time at Anfield, Schmeichel said: "I can’t praise him enough. I want Harry Maguire to play every game. I want him to be the captain. He’s got all the attributes of a good Manchester United leader. He’s not the quickest, I’ll agree with that, and he’s got some trouble on the turn, but Man Utd have had defenders like that before. But what they always had next to them were quick players and that’s what we don’t have at the moment. I think he should be the number one defender and he can organise everybody. He talks to everybody and gives them confidence, and I think that is important. Somebody who stands out all the time and takes responsibility, because I think that has been a problem in this team."
Schmeichel questions Fernandes' body language
Speaking about current United skipper Fernandes, Schmeichel added: "I think Bruno is a fantastic player, plays maybe in the wrong position, but sometimes I don’t like his body language. I know he talks really well to all the players but somethimes he has reactions that can be mistaken for something else. Harry doesn’t have that, he has that calm head. I was saying during the game: Look at Harry, look at how he is telling everyone where to go and helping players. And there are a lot of players in this team that are so low on confidence that they need help. And then Harry plays and I’m so happy he scored that goal."
Arsenal legend heaps praise on Maguire
Adding to Schmeichel's comments, former Gunners star Freddie Ljungberg further heaped praise on Maguire, as he said: "I always felt sorry for Maguire because the sh*t he had been getting in England had been horrible. I always felt for the man because he always takes it with dignity, and when he’s out on that pitch, he gives everything for Man United. Never complained about it, he just does his job and every game I see him, I want him to do well. A game like this, when they score so early and in the second half they can stand and defend that low block, for Maguire, that is perfect.
"Sometimes I feel they criticise him when they play a high line and he has to turn and run back. Yeah, that’s not his strength. But what the game looked like today, he was amazing."