Bruno Fernandes ‘likes’ cryptic post after Michael Carrick drops Manchester United captain

Bruno Fernandes has appeared to send an indirect message to Manchester United manager Michael Carrick and the club’s supporters after being left out of the team for Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

The 32-year-old Portugal international was an unused substitute as Carrick made the bold decision to omit Manchester United’s captain. Fernandes had criticised the manager’s tactics following last week’s 4-1 loss to Como.

It was only the sixth time Fernandes had been named among the substitutes for a Premier League match since joining Manchester United in 2020.

According to The Sun, Fernandes recently liked an enigmatic Instagram post about “loyal people” being pushed to the point where they no longer care. The social media interaction has been interpreted by some as a deliberate message about his current situation.

The post featured a giant stone statue carrying a boulder which was intended to roll down a hill and destroy a village. Written above the image was the line: “Don’t push the loyal person to the point where they no longer care.”

The accompanying message read: “The person holding everything together is usually the person nobody thinks to check on.

“Every family, group of friends and team has that person. The one who always shows up no matter what. The one who listens, fixes things, covers mistakes and carries more than anyone else realises. They do not complain about it; they simply keep supporting things because that is who they are.

“But loyal people are met with ingratitude and everything they do is taken for granted faster than anyone else. Their effort begins to be treated as automatic, while their patience is mistaken for weakness.

“People push them, take from them and test their patience, assuming they will always remain, until one day they do not. There will be no major argument or dramatic withdrawal; they simply stop caring quietly, stop trying and let go. Everything they had been carrying collapses and falls with them.

“Most people never realise how much weight someone was carrying until the day they finally allow that weight to fall.”

Fernandes has been Manchester United’s outstanding player for much of his six years at the club. He has scored 111 goals in 334 appearances and won the Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Player of the Year award last season, when Manchester United finished third in the Premier League.

However, supporters made their frustrations clear after the Bournemouth defeat. They applauded Carrick outside the stadium while directing loud boos at the players.

Carrick is now believed to be close to losing his job, with Eddie Howe among the candidates being considered as his replacement.