Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes says he spoke to sacked manager Erik ten Hag and apologised for not doing more to stop him losing his job.
The Dutchman was dismissed on Monday following United’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham, which left them 14th in the table.
Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford means they have climbed a place, but the situation will not be a positive one when Ruben Amorim arrives from Sporting during this month’s international break.
Ten Hag made Fernandes his captain at United and stuck with the midfielder despite intense criticism at times.
And the Portuguese midfielder said the players needed to take some of the responsibility.
Having not scored this season until he converted a second-half penalty to put United in front against Chelsea, Fernandes felt the pain more than most.
“It is not good for anyone at the club when the manager goes,” he told Sky Sports.
“You have to take some of the blame on yourself because it is the team that is not doing so well and it is easier to get rid of a manager than 15 players.
“I spoke to the manager and apologised. We are not scoring goals and I feel responsible. I normally score a lot of goals but I always give 100% and he is aware of that.”
In a separate interview with BBC Sport, Fernandes said he had spoken to friends during the week and predicted the likely chain of events.
“I said everything will come to us and people will say we wanted the manager to be sacked,” he added.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, former United skipper Roy Keane was less than impressed by the comments. He has little empathy with claims of loyalty towards Ten Hag.
“We mentioned loyalty last week,” Keane told Sky Sports. “If you want loyalty, get yourself a dog.”
Keane said Fernandes’ comments were “too little, too late”.
“He has not shown enough leadership with the going has got tough,” added the Irishman.
“I wouldn’t want to be in the trenches with these players. A lot of them don’t care that much. They just focus on the next manager.”
Ten Hag repeatedly said this season his side had not converted enough of their chances into goals.
It was the same against Chelsea, with Alejandro Garnacho failing to take multiple chances, Marcus Rashford firing a first-half effort against the woodwork and substitute Joshua Zirkzee caught in possession after appearing to have a clear run on goal.
Watching that must be particularly painful for interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals for United in five prolific seasons.
But he still saw signs of optimism.
“The last games we lost some points because we didn’t take our chances,” he said.
“The good thing is we create a lot during the season so far. When the players get in the flow with results coming, goals will come also.”
Whether Van Nistelrooy is around for that remains to be seen.
He revealed he has not yet spoken to Amorim and no talks are scheduled before his temporary stint in the manager’s role comes to an end after home games over the next week against Greek side PAOK in the Europa League and Leicester in the Premier League.
A lifelong Sporting fan, Fernandes left them to join United in January 2020, two months before Amorim arrived from Braga, and the 30-year-old has witnessed the transformation of his former club.
“I watch a lot of Sporting games,” he added. “Ruben Amorim brought excitement back to the club. It was a little bit split when he came but he transformed everything and brought everyone together.”