Bruno Fernandes' leadership skills have been shown in some unseen footage from Manchester United’s shock Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby.
The League Two side knocked out the Premier League giants on penalties, triggering a pitch invasion in response to one of English football’s great upsets.
Fernandes was quick to put an arm around Mbeumo
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Fernandes was quick to put an arm around MbeumoCredit: Twitter/X
But a number of Grimsby fans were more interested in mocking than celebrating
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But a number of Grimsby fans were more interested in mocking than celebratingCredit: Twitter/X
Yet in the chaos, United captain Fernandes was straight over to protect a new signing.
Fan footage has shown the Portuguese with his arm around Bryan Mbuemo, who missed the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.
The summer signing struck the crossbar to end an 18 minute shoot-out 12-11 in favour of Grimsby.
And while the majority of Blundell Park that flooded onto the pitch headed for their heroes, some sought to mock Mbeumo.
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Fernandes was on the scene to offer some comfort during a painful night for the Cameroon international.
The £70million man had actually been one of Ruben Amorim’s better players during the humiliation, coming off the bench to reduce Grimsby’s lead to 2-1.
He also scored his first shoot-out attempt, but his previously impressive record from his Brentford days went missing when his second struck the bar and decided the match.
Showing some more leadership post-match was Fernandes' countryman Diogo Dalot who fronted up to the club's TV channel.
"Not good enough, clearly, especially in the first half. We gave the game to them - first balls, second balls, set-plays," he told MUTV.
"We fought back in the second half but that was the minimum we could show to the fans that travelled, and for the club.
Mbeumo became the villain for United thanks to his penalty miss
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Mbeumo became the villain for United thanks to his penalty missCredit: Getty
"We cannot come here and expect it's going to be easy. Credit for their fight to go through. But it shouldn't be enough to win against us because we should have shown much more.
"It's minimum standards. I don't want to go through the same sentence time again, we just need to show."
Amorim, meanwhile, made some curious comments, which were interpreted by some as him saying his team weren't playing for him.
"My players spoke for me, really loud," he began.
"It doesn't matter if we recover [from 2-0 down] or not. It's the signs the team made during the game. The beginning of the game.
"I know that the best team won, the only team that was on the pitch. The best players lose, because one team can win against any group of players.
It was another night of humiliation for Amorim
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It was another night of humiliation for AmorimCredit: Getty
"I think the team and the players spoke really loud today. That's it. We lost. The best team won."
Asked to clarify what he meant by his players speaking 'really loud', Amorim added: "It's really clear what they spoke. Let's move on from this day. I think it was really clear for everybody what happened today."
talkSPORT verdict
talkSPORT's chief football correspondent Alex Crook slammed United's display at Grimsby labelling it a 'shambles'.
"Where do you start, honestly? Shambles. It was the most humiliating Manchester United performance I think I’ve ever seen," Crook said.
"United used to release an end-of-season DVD, they don’t any more because there’s not much to celebrate.
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"It’s not funny for Manchester United fans. Just when you think the club has reached its nadir, they manage to find new ways to stink the place out.
"The system is going to be Ruben Amorim’s downfall. Why do you need three central defenders away from home against League Two Grimsby?"