- Bruno Fernandes on Roy Keane ‘lying’
- Man Utd icon falsely quoted the Portuguese midfielder
- Fernandes even messaged one of Keane’s ex-teammates
Bruno Fernandes has hit out at Roy Keane for lying about the Manchester United captain’s mentality with recent comments. The former Red Devils skipper criticised Fernandes for focusing on the Premier League assist record.
The United midfielder has enjoyed the best season of his career and broke the all-time record for assists in a single league campaign. He registered his 21st in yesterday’s 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fernandes joined Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry with 20 assists the weekend before in a 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest. It was after that game that Keane lied when quoting the player’s post-match interview.
“What he said is a lie” – Fernandes on Keane
Keane said on The Overlap that Fernandes said, “I should have shot, but I made the passes.” He argued that the Portugal international had prioritised chasing the assist record rather than trying to score for his team.
United fans called out the Irishman as Fernandes clearly stated during his interview that he should have passed the ball instead of shooting because he wanted the best for his team. This was put to the 31-year-old during his appearance on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast:
“I’ve always said I don’t mind criticism and I’ve always taken criticism from anyone and everyone and I’ve never replied to anything. People have an opinion, they think it’s good, bad or whatever.
He added:
“What I don’t like is when people lie about things, and in this case, what you said about Roy Keane, basically, what he said is a lie.”
Fernandes pointed out that “luckily”, everything is on record and revealed he messaged Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to have “a word” with Keane. The fact that the United star has to deal with a supposed club legend trying to paint him in such a way is a damning indictment of the toxicity these pundits stir up.
Keane has spent much of his punditry career ridiculing his former club. There’s no doubt he is one of the greatest players to grace Old Trafford but his antics as an analyst come off extremely bitter.
Karma for Keane
Fernandes, as he mentioned, very often responds to criticism and, in fact, takes it on board. He has been scrutinised throughout his United career, with rival fans and pundits not taking to his on-pitch personality.
The Portuguese midfielder does his talking on the pitch, and there was no better way for him to hit back at Keane than by breaking the assist record. But lying to fit a narrative goes over the line and deserves the response the Irishman has received.
