Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has blasted Bruno Fernandes for his ‘absolutely terrible’ first-half performance against Wolves.
United moved up to sixth place in the Premier League after a 4-1 win at Molineux on Monday evening. Despite the comfortable scoreline, the visitors were unconvincing in the first-half where Wolves scored their first goal in 540 minutes to level the contest before the break.
Fernandes scrambled home a scruffy opener during that underwhelming opening 45 minutes, later converting a penalty to wrap up the win.
The skipper also provided the assist for Mason Mount’s goal with Tottenham star James Maddison, on punditry duty on Sky Sports for the game, describing the Portugal international as ‘underrated’ after the game.
Former United defender Parker was less impressed. United as a whole were wasteful in the first period with their intensity levels noticeably dropping off after their opener, also lacking cohesion in the final third.
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Despite walking away with two goals and an assist, Parker believes Fernandes ‘got away with it’ after his first-half showing.
‘He was really poor in the first half, Fernandes,’ Parker told Metro via Kasinohai.
‘I know he got himself a goal. I mean, his poor decisions sometimes, he was giving the ball away far, far too cheaply.
‘But he got away with it, because his reaction to when he gives the ball away, sometimes he has to accept that when other players do it, he’s got to accept them as well sometimes.
‘He looked absolutely terrible, but there you are.’
Lisandro Martinez came off the bench for just his second appearance since recovering from the ACL injury he suffered in February. The Argentina international immediately provided some composure and control to United’s game with Parker believing he demonstrated true leadership qualities.
‘I’ll tell you what I did notice as well, Martinez. He came on, he went into the middle, and you could see him ushering people. When he got on the ball, he was ushering them forward,’ Parker continued.
‘Step forward, he was telling them, he was organising them. He was getting around them, he was doing that when he came on. He’s been out there, he’s only had a few minutes of football, but he’s in his genes to do that. He is a leader.’
Parker went onto suggest Martinez demonstrated leadership qualities Fernandes doesn’t possess.
‘You don’t need an arm band to be a leader, just somebody who wants more from other people. And that’s what he’s done.
‘Fernandes doesn’t do that, he doesn’t give you that. He’s an armband captain because he’s seen as United’s most important player.’