Erik ten Hag was right to keep Bruno Fernandes as Manchester United's captain after the seven-goal humiliation at Liverpool.
The last thing United need is to unsettle a key player who has provided eight goals and 12 assists in all competitions this season. It would have been the easy option for Ten Hag to throw Fernandes under the bus following the second-half capitulation at Anfield, but it would have created far more problems than it would have solved.
Players respect a manager who shows loyalty in adversity, and Bruno is not the first captain who has thrown his arms in the air, pointed fingers or lapsed into negative body language.
I captained four Premier League clubs, and of course I threw the occasional strop. Once at Derby, when I was hooked by Nigel Clough in a feisty derby against Nottingham Forest, I threw my boots off and sulked in the dugout, which was hardly inspired captaincy on my part.
Where pundits and voices on social media were queueing up to hammer Fernandes, Ten Hag showed leadership and bottle to stand by his man – and his reward was a 4-1 win against Real Betis in the Europa League on Thursday night. In fact, it was noticeable that he didn't rotate the squad at all; he picked the same starting XI that he selected at Anfield and told them to put it right.
That was sound man-management, sending the message that Ten Hag still believes in his players – and United responded with an emphatic win which leaves them with one foot in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Do you agree with Erik ten Hag's decision to keep Bruno Fernandes as captain? Have your say in the comments!
Everyone has bought into the way he has transformed the club, he has put smiles on the faces of players who may have felt a bit unloved - like Fred and Aaron Wan-Bissaka - and he has given the supporters reason to believe the good times are on the way back. What happened at Anfield was a horrible setback, and in years to come it will be a point of reference for people to tease United.
But the bottom line is that they have lost only three of the last 34 games, Ten Hag has put a trophy on the sideboard already, they have a home FA Cup quarter-final against Fulham and they should reach the last eight in Europe.
United are not going to win the Premier League title, but Fernandes is going to be an important part of the run-in as they chase a treble in the cups, and don't write it off; Liverpool won three cups in 2001, so why shouldn't United do it 22 years later?
As I've remarked before in this column, Ten Hag is up there with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Napoli's Luciano Spalletti among the best coaches in world for establishing a winning culture at clubs who had been under-achieving.
Every time he has been confronted with a major problem – Cristiano Ronaldo rocking the boat, a terrible start in the Premier League, Jadon Sancho's time-out to address physical and mental health issues and leaving out club captain Harry Maguire – he has handled it brilliantly.
So, it is no surprise that the noise about Bruno Fernandes - and his suitability to wear the armband - dispersed as quickly as it surfaced with a goal, two assists and a yellow card against Real Betis. Job done – an another feather in Ten Hag's cap.
