Roy Keane has delivered a scathing critique of Bruno Fernandes and Manchester United, questioning the team’s priorities after the Portuguese midfielder equalled the Premier League assist record
Roy Keane was furious with Manchester United’s actions(Image: Stick to Football)
Roy Keane has delivered a blistering critique of Manchester United’s players and Bruno Fernandes for placing the captain’s assist tally above securing victory. The United legend targeted his former side and challenged their mindset, considering how much focus was placed on Fernandes equalling the assists record instead of the team simply claiming three points.
Fernandes matched the Premier League assist record after notching his 20th of the season against Nottingham Forest to set up Bryan Mbeumo. The Portugal international equalled the mark previously set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
Keane expressed disbelief at the mentality shown by the United squad and argued that focus should only turn to such ‘sideshows’ after achieving silverware.
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“You’re going to get assists in that position he plays. 20 would be better if you’re winning trophies,” Keane said on Stick to Football.
“When you’re the captain of the club and you’re supposed to be driving the club forward, do not be getting bogged down by your role in the team, just assists. I think what I heard at United at the weekend, I was raging with it.
“The whole chat about his assists and players talking about assists. He got interviewed after the match, and I was watching and everyone was talking about assists. The game was about his assists. After the game he got interviewed and he said in his interview, the captain of Man United, ‘A few times I should have shot but I made them passes’ [Fernandes actually said he should have passed rather than shot].
“How can your mindset about football be going into a match and talking about an individual record? He’s going to get all of them stats anyway but to become the main point of Manchester United’s performance at the weekend, I was cringing with all of them.
“And all of the players going over to him when he got the assist. What about the guy who scored the goal?”
Gary Neville interjected, saying: “There was nothing on the game, United had finished in the Champions League, Forest had already stayed up.”
But Keane fired back: “If your mindset is like that going into the game, what’s to say it’s not like that in other games? You say there’s nothing in the game, there’s always something on the game. There was 70,000 at the match yesterday.
“I’m just saying, all the players talking about Bruno’s assists, when you’re not winning anything. If you’re winning stuff and players are getting individual awards, fantastic. Golden Boot, thumbs up to that, player of the year, no problem. But that’s further down the line.
“The priority is the team. Man United’s priority this weekend was Bruno getting an assist. Not winning a football match. Not strikers getting goals or defenders or being good at set pieces or keeping a clean sheet. There’s other parts of football that are really important so for one player to get bogged down with assists and his team aren’t winning anything, that’s my issue.
“That will happen anyway. Bruno will get loads of assists the position he plays and he’s got runners ahead of them.
“What’s the point? What’s the point? You’re part of a team game. What’s the priority of the team? To try to win. Of course, he’s doing his job, he’s a brilliant player, and he’s player of the year, he’s getting the rewards, and in the summer, he’ll probably get another new deal because he’s threatening to go to Saudi Arabia.
“We’ve been down this road before. He’s got previous. So for a player to get assists and that becoming the priority, that will come when your team is focused on trying to win the big prizes and keeping clean sheets.
“If they win the league next year and he gets 20 assists, I’ll say ‘You know what, well done Man United on winning the league and Bruno, well done’. That’s a little sideshow. That can’t become the main show.
“Is he not contributing to the team trying to keep clean sheets? That’s part of his job,” Keane continued. “If you’re going into a game and it’s affecting your decision-making, listen to his interview after the game.
“There were chances for him to shoot yesterday, particularly in the second half but everyone was getting bogged down with assists. When he got the assist, they all ran over, forget the goalscorer. The assists should be the backup to everything else. The assists became the story. How can the assists become the story at Manchester United?
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“Look at the second half, he admitted himself. First half he had a few shots but then it all became about the assists.
“What do you get for it? What’s the reason for playing for Man United? What’s the number one priority when you play for Man United?”
Neville argued that Fernandes was motivated by winning silverware at United, and that was the reason he had stayed at the club.
Yet Keane hit back sharply: “And he won’t be winning trophies. Not with that mindset of the team yesterday, where they’ve given up two goals and everyone’s getting all giddy because he’s equalled a record for assists. It’s mindboggling. It’s a circus act.”
The Irishman still managed to raise a few smiles during the exchange, however. Pressing on with his verdict, he said: “Players won awards at United it was fantastic but not where that was the main chat.
“You’re on about winning player of the year, I got player of the year once and nobody turned up at the dinner. That’s not my priority. My priority is winning trophies.”
Laughing, Neville said: “We had a game that week.” Leaning over the table, Ian Wright chuckled: “That’s still touching you deep.”
Keane chirped with a wry smile: “I’m not one to carry a grudge Ian.”
While Keane may remain unconvinced, Fernandes actually stated that he derived greater satisfaction from securing three points against Forest, and acknowledged he probably should have looked to pass more rather than chase personal glory. Keane misheard Fernandes’ words, it appears.
Speaking after the final whistle, Fernandes said: “Everyone knew that it was important that I could get another assist at least. They’ve been trying everything they can to score from my passes.
“There were probably moments today when I should have passed instead of shot. I’m very happy for the assist, but more than that, I’m happy for the win and to finish the season on a high.”
2026-05-19 11:06:00
