Bruno Fernandes looks on during Manchester United's match against Bournemouth
Bruno Fernandes should have played for Manchester United on Sunday despite his controversial comments in midweek.
That is the view of former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew following the Red Devils' home defeat to Bournemouth.
4Carrick has been warned his decision to drop Fernandes could create more issuesCredit: Getty
United fell to a 3-0 loss at Old Trafford as their winless run extended to eight matches in all competitions.
Fernandes did not feature, though, with the club captain remaining an unused substitute against the Cherries.
It followed Michael Carrick's decision to drop the midfielder from his starting line-up.
The Portugal international had criticised United's tactics following their Champions League defeat to Como on Wednesday.
However, Carrick revealed prior to kick-off that his decision to drop Fernandes was based on 'pure football' reasons.
Pardew reacts to Fernandes decision
Pardew has now admitted he would have made a different choice to the current Red Devils boss, who is on the brink of the sack amid the rapid downturn in results for the team.
Speaking to Natalie Sawyer on The Final Word, Pardew explained: "I'm thinking I would have played him, personally.
"There is this other side of the football coin where you go, you don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
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"You could still be strong by playing him. You say, ‘well, yes, I heard what he said. In my opinion, he's wrong and I'm still not finished.’
"There might be some discipline coming his way on the back of a win, if you know what I mean.
4Fernandes remained an unused substitute against BournemouthCredit: Getty
"So you could turn it around a little bit and still win as the manager, but I don't know what's gone on on the training ground.
"Has Fernandes disrespected Michael on the bus, on the training ground from that evening to this game? Was there an incident? Was he sort of going, ‘the manager isn’t good enough’ in the background and the staff have told him?
"All those things I'm not privy to, and unless I was, I can't make that decision. I can only give you the foresight of what happens."
Fernandes has scored four goals and provided an assist in 11 appearances in all competitions this season.
The 32-year-old has not found the net in the Premier League since his hat-trick against Ipswich Town on August 30, though, which is also the last time United won a game.
Fernandes decision 'more of an issue'
Pardew now believes Carrick's decision to drop Fernandes will become a bigger headache due to Sunday's result.
4Carrick should have played Fernandes on Sunday, says CarrickCredit: Getty
In his absence, the Red Devils suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season to drop to 16th, a point above the bottom three.
The talkSPORT pundit added: "I can think of examples. Joey Barton, when I first went to Newcastle, my first day, he said to me, ‘you're not good enough to be manager here,’ but I played him in the game that came up next against Liverpool and we won.
"Then we went on from there and we were fine. We worked together, he didn't need to apologise. Joey isn’t the type to apologise.
"So that's an example where I could have just left Joey out. He's not with me, I'll leave him out. So you can use it, but you have to understand where you were.
"I watched Joey that week in training. He was on it, he was up for it. I could see that. So I knew that actually his playing side of it, he was going to give us something.
"And I think that the whole Fernandes one now is in leaving him out and losing the game now becomes even more of an issue."
4Carrick's side have failed to win any of their last eight matches in all competitionsCredit: Getty
Pardew took over as Newcastle manager in December 2010, four months after leaving then League One side Southampton.
He would go on to win his opening match 3-1 at home to Liverpool, with Joey Barton on the scoresheet after starting in midfield.
His four years in charge would include a fifth place finish and a run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Pardew departed St James' Park in December 2014 to become Crystal Palace boss.