Chris Sutton tells Erik ten Hag he was wrong about 'petulant and spoiled' Man Utd star

Erik ten Hag should have kept Harry Maguire as Manchester United's club captain, according to one pundit. Ten Hag stripped Maguire of the captaincy during the summer after the England international fell out of favour last season.

Bruno Fernandes was handed the armband, and it hasn't gone to plan for the Portuguese superstar, at least not yet. Injuries have meant Maguire has come back into the picture, while Fernandes - and indeed United as a whole - have struggled for form. The Red Devils' most recent sorry showing came on Sunday afternoon when they lost 3-0 to Manchester City at Old Trafford.

United showed little fight in the derby, and questions are being asked of Ten Hag, and indeed his captain Fernandes, who is not showing clear signs of leadership. A number of pundits have called for Ten Hag to reassign the role, while Chris Sutton believes Maguire should never have lost the armband.

"You look at the great Manchester United captains of the past. [Roy] Keane, [Bryan] Robson, [Steve] Bruce, [Nemanja] Vidic and [Gary] Neville. They're captains with a bit of clout, a bit of authority," Sutton said on the Daily Mail's podcast. "[They are] somebody you want to follow out of the tunnel where you feel you'd run through a wall with him. 

"I never felt the same about Bruno Fernandes. I think he's petulant. He's like the talented, spoiled kid down the park when things aren't going, who then takes his ball home. That's the way he seems to me."

Sutton added: "We've defended Ten Hag up until now [but] that was on Ten Hag to change the captaincy and for Bruno to come in. And there were reasons because Maguire wasn't gonna play, but I'd much rather stand behind Harry Maguire in the tunnel. I'd rather him leading me out rather than the word Bruno."