[Manchester United](https://manunews.com/) were humbled again on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Brentford, who are the absolute definition of a mid-table Premier League side. But judging by how poorly Man United have been playing under Ruben Amorim, who is losing half of his games now, mid-table is aspirational at this point.
The Red Devils got cooked badly again, and outside of last weekend’s anomalous win over Chelsea, thanks to an early red card from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, this club can’t even buy a decent performance.
There’s so much blame to go around, too. The buck obviously stops with manager Ruben Amorim, who has somehow been even worse than Erik ten Hag as the man in charge, but there are a boat load of individual players who have been stinking up the joint.
The one guy Manchester United fan’s can’t start throwing under the bus, though, is Bruno Fernandes. Yes, he missed a penalty against Brentford and didn’t have his best game, but what is Bruno supposed to do in this system?
Ruben Amorim is bringing out the worst in Bruno Fernandes
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Amorim’s tactics are so infuriating because they literally bring out the worst in his players, and nobody has been suffering more than Bruno. You wouldn’t even blame the guy if he started a mutiny against his fellow ex-Sporting CP alumn, because it’s almost like Amorim is trying to make him look bad.
Fernandes is one of the best No. 10’s in the Premier League and has been United’s saving grace for years, yet he is being played as a deep lying playmaker and forced to do all the things he is literally not good at.
Bruno is a creator, not a defender. He likes to be near the action, not setting things up away from it. He likes to take risks, rather than trying to play it safe and keep possession cycling over.
Fernandes looks bad because Amorim is setting him up to fail. If Manchester United fans can’t see past that and unite against whatever the heck it is that Amorim is trying to achieve here and instead go after Bruno, then it’s all screwed for the Red Devils.
Joe Soriano is the editor of _The Trivela Effect_ and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like _The Real Champs_ (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage _NFL Spin Zone_ and _Daily DDT,_ covering the NFL and pro wrestling.