Manchester United are off to their worst league start in 40 years, and captain Bruno Fernandes is struggling to find his form after a stunning 2025-26 campaign. United have collected just six points from their opening six Premier League games, and Fernandes has yet to match the numbers that earned him player-of-the-year honours.
It is only seven weeks since Fernandes stood in the Manchester Opera House and spoke of his pride at being named PFA Player of the Year for 2025-26. The Manchester United captain had already won the Premier League and Football Writers’ awards, recognising his huge contribution to his side’s unexpected third-place finish.
A remarkable end to last season
Fernandes scored nine goals and provided 21 assists last season, a Premier League record shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne until he broke it. Over the final 11 games, he either scored or created 12 of United’s 21 goals. In the seven-game run that carried United back into Europe’s elite club competition after a two-year absence, the 31-year-old was involved in nine of their 12 goals.
The figures were reminiscent of Eric Cantona in the 1995-96 title-winning campaign, when he scored in six successive games, five of them when United managed only one goal.
“It was a special season for me,” Fernandes told an appreciative audience. “I am very proud.
“But we don’t play tennis. We don’t play just for ourselves. We play for a team, we play for a club, we play for the fans. There is nothing more special than that.”
A slow start this season
Those words carry extra weight now, because this season’s numbers are far less impressive. Fernandes has played every minute of United’s six Premier League games. He has three goals and one assist, all of them against Ipswich in the second game of the campaign, which remains United’s only win so far.
His overall tally is slightly better than last season, when he scored twice in the opening six games and created nothing. However, he was playing in the deeper midfield role that Ruben Amorim preferred at that point.
Fernandes is taking more shots than at any time in recent years apart from one season, averaging 3.3 per game. Yet his average of 0.8 shots on target is his joint-second lowest at Old Trafford. His chance creation, at 2.5 per game, is his second lowest in his time at the club and well down on the 4.0 he managed last season.
Most striking of all, he has created just one ‘big chance’ this season, the lofted pass that sent Bryan Mbeumo clear of the Ipswich defence on 30 August. He averaged one per game last season.
These figures help explain why United have struggled so badly. Their start is their worst in 40 years, when Ron Atkinson was sacked to make way for Sir Alex Ferguson. The key question is whether Fernandes is a reason for United’s malaise or a symptom of it.
Fitness questions
There is also uncertainty over the Portugal playmaker’s fitness. Fernandes rarely misses a game, but he was left out of the recent Nations League match against Norway, with national team boss Jorge Jesus saying the former Sporting man was “playing through pain”.
Fernandes did return for the final two internationals of the break. Before that, he played the full 90 minutes in United’s 4-0 Champions League win over Azerbaijani champions Sabah FK.
Manager Michael Carrick does not see the issue as a serious problem as he prepares his side to face Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
“He was carrying something but that happens a lot,” Carrick said. “Players play with issues.
“It’s not ideal but it is manageable. Bruno is able to play. That is the commitment he has got.
“He is pretty much over it, was really bright in training this morning and is looking forward to the game.”
Missing Sesko and Casemiro
At the peak of Fernandes’ productivity last season, Benjamin Sesko was a regular at centre-forward, and veteran Brazilian Casemiro anchored the midfield. Of the nine league goals Sesko has scored in 2026, Fernandes created four. He also set up four of the final five goals Casemiro scored for United from 1 February onwards.
The absence of both players is now clearly felt. Casemiro left for Inter Miami in the summer, but United’s current poor running numbers cannot be blamed on his departure alone, as his positioning and game knowledge remain of a high standard. Fernandes could take risks because United were less likely to be overrun on the counter-attack if he lost the ball.
Sesko’s fresh shin injury extends a lack of involvement that is being keenly felt, and there is no set date for his return.
United’s decision-makers ignored calls for more striking support in the summer and instead strengthened Carrick’s midfield. A plan to cover Sesko’s initial absence by using Mbeumo as a number nine had to be scrapped when Amad Diallo suffered an ankle injury just before the opening game at Hull. Matheus Cunha was given the job instead, but he repeatedly dropped deep into the space Fernandes occupied, and the pair never found an effective way to deal with it.
For Fernandes, that setup appears restrictive. He is not a player who lacks confidence, but his decision-making seems to be suffering. Against Tottenham at the weekend, it took him an incredible 23 minutes just to complete a pass.
Carrick backs his captain
On Monday, Carrick said that no one was “guaranteed” a place in his team, but he added enough caveats to suggest that leaving out his captain is not in his thinking.
United must improve, and that means Fernandes must improve with them.
“He’s a top player, Bruno,” Carrick said.
“Sometimes things don’t quite go for you. Sometimes you have a spell of that.
“But he’s done some incredible things for this football club and he will do the same in the future, there’s no doubt about that.”