Two words are chanted ad infinitum in victory at Old Trafford these days: Argentina and Bruno. Lisandro Martinez has the privilege of the cult status Bruno Fernandes quickly attained three years ago and the Portuguese's legacy at Manchester United is far greater now.
Fernandes may not register half the 28 goals he tallied two seasons ago but there is a credible argument this has been his best for United. Fernandes has assumed leadership responsibilities under his third manager at the club, United have played some of their most commanding football in six years and Fernandes has started in all but one Premier League match (he was suspended at Aston Villa).
Back in July and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Fernandes bristled when he was asked if he would "tweak" his game to become more aligned with Erik ten Hag's demands. Fernandes misheard the question.
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"What do you mean weaken my game?"
The misunderstanding elicited compelling quotes: "He (Ten Hag) wants me to do assists anyway, so I have to try it!" Fernandes protested. "I don't understand that type of question of keeping the ball or whatever it is.
"I keep the ball when I think I have to keep it, I try a pass when I think I have to do it and sometimes it goes good, sometimes wrong. Obviously, when it goes wrong, I know that shouldn't be the one, but sometimes when you play in the 10 position you have only a few seconds to think and control the ball and make the pass, so it's not that much time to think.
"I understand of course, that someone has his own opinion, but when I arrived in 2020 I was losing the same amount of balls in those six months and then the year after I lost the same amount of balls, but I scored 28 goals, so people don't complain about that. Now last season, because I scored only 10, because for some people it's only 10 goals, people start complaining."
Fernandes is one of the best players at United and is certainly the best talker in the squad. He conducts himself so thoughtfully when he arrived for media obligations for the League Cup final he shook hands with journalists waiting to interview another teammate. One teammate offered a half-hearted "hello" and another completely ignored us.
In the Old Trafford tunnel after the semi-final stroll against Nottingham Forest, John Murtough and Richard Arnold both paused to congratulate Fernandes. Both were in awe of United's de facto captain with a mentality Ten Hag was always bound to embrace. Ten Hag and Fernandes are kindred spirits.
That mentality been put to the test with Fernandes' role changes. He has started on the right-hand side six times and in central midfield on three occasions, which have contributed to his supposedly modest numbers of 10 goals and 12 assists.
Yet Fernandes's relocations almost always work to great effect. The first time he shifted to the right to accommodate Donny van de Beek, of all people, his flick-on from David de Gea's goal kick created room for Cristiano Ronaldo to manoeuvre and play in Alejandro Garnacho to score against Real Sociedad.
Van de Beek flunked his audition as Fernandes's replacement at Villa Park three days later yet inexplicably remained the No.10 for the rematch in the League Cup tie four days on. Fernandes, still on the right, crossed for Anthony Martial to equalise and lashed in the winning goal.
Stats-padding is so misleading Fernandes's contributions in matches he has neither scored nor assisted are more memorable. Away at Barcelona, he set the tone for United's fearless performance in the first 30 seconds and broke the lines to gift Wout Weghorst a one-on-one he characteristically squandered.
Against Everton on Saturday, Fernandes underpinned United's best half under Ten Hag. Operating from central midfield again, he ruthlessly exploited the auxiliary left-back Ben Godfrey and Everton's paceless pair of James Tarkowski and Michael Keane.
FBREF's statistics show Fernandes had more touches against Everton than in any other game this season. The only other league game he broke three figures was against Brentford - when he was also in midfield.
Ten Hag must curse his failure not to have had Fernandes deep against Newcastle. "There's only one Bruno" rang around the Gallowgate End on a day Guimaraes outshone his namesake. United mastered the balance with Marcel Sabitzer more advanced and Scott McTominay holding last week. Now they can reunite Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
Fernandes's flexibility offers Ten Hag six options in midfield, rather than five, invaluable in a run-in where United could play 16 games in 51 days. Casemiro and Eriksen, the elder statesmen of the midfield at 31, will require the odd breather.
That cannot be said of Fernandes. Remarkably, he has missed one game in three years and two months with United and that was only through illness.
What sets Fernandes apart is, for a talent who favours a role that is so individualistic, it is all about the collective. He did not sulk or appear affronted that the timid Van de Beek nabbed his role for three games in November and though Fernandes has had the armband strapped to his bicep for most of the season, Harry Maguire regained it on Saturday. Fernandes was still in man-of-the-match form.
Greater United players than Fernandes were not greater characters. Peter Schmeichel refused to relinquish the captaincy to the returning Roy Keane at the start of the 1998-99 season after he had missed the majority of the previous campaign after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament. The matter was only settled by Sir Alex Ferguson in the Wembley dressing room prior to the Charity Shield.
"No welcome back Roy, here's the armband. No f-----g chance with Peter," Keane recalled. "In the end the gaffer had to order him to stand down. He sulked. Arsenal got two soft goals on the way to a 3-0 victory. Afterwards the gaffer called a meeting and told Peter to grow up."
United fans do not chant Schmeichel's name but they still chant "Keano". And "Bruno".
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