Sport
Bruno Fernandes is being called out for his ‘ridiculous’ diving — again…
It's far from the first time.
Danny Jones -
25th February 2024 
Bruno Fernandes is once again being called out for diving after yet another clip of his theatrical behaviour on the pitch has gone viral on social media.
The phrase déjà vu comes to mind.
The Manchester United star is no stranger to this kind of accusation and often irritates football fans with his on-field antics, Reds included, with his propensity for the so-called ‘dark arts’.
In a word, he’s what those who watch the sport typically call a ‘sh*thouse’ and love it or hate it, those characters are a part of the game that isn’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon.
All that being said, this particular clip of his conduct in the Fulham game doesn’t exactly colour him in the best light and it could arguably be one of his worst bits of pageantry to date:
Unsurprisingly, this latest example of Bruno Fernandes‘ diving has been labelled everything from “shocking” and “embarrassing” to “pathetic” and “ridiculous”, as well as being accused of cheating online from various fan bases and even some of his own supporters.
It’s hard to argue with any of those descriptions either, especially when this is by no means the first time he’s come under fire for similar behaviour. This isn’t even the first time we’ve written about it, having been hit with almost identical adjectives based on last season’s performances too.
The 29-year-old Portuguese midfielder remains one of Man United and the Premier League’s most creative players but as one commenter put it: “Moments like these are why Bruno Fernandes get disrespected by rival fans and referees hardly take him seriously… a cheating sore loser to a lot”.
Another went so far as to question, “Isn’t it about time they start dishing out some retrospective punishments for blatant cheating like this?”
It wasn’t too long ago that club legend Roy Keane called out the current United captain for multiple aspects of his game as well, diving being just one of them.
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Replying to the original clip, another account wrote: “Players like this make refereeing the game nigh on impossible. This stuff needs calling out every week by pundits, regardless of who it is or what club they play for” — and it seems many others would also back the idea of retrospective punishment for diving.
You can go back throughout his time at Old Trafford to find plenty of other examples of his simulation and while it is part of football, it’s one of the biggest criticisms levelled against the sport and far from what makes it ‘the beautiful game’.
Fernandes is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to the countless players trying to con the referee around the world week in and week out, but this almost chronic level of diving being highlighted on the biggest stage does pose the question of whether more needs to be done to crack down on it after the fact?
You can watch the highlights of Man United’s 1-2 loss to Fulham at home down below:
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Featured Images — @Gidge11 (via X)/Sky Sports (via Screenshot)
