Man Utd star blasted for "throwing teammate under the bus" with post-match comment

talkSPORT pundit Darren Bent has criticised Man United midfielder Bruno Fernandes for the way he spoke about youngster Alejandro Garnacho.

Bent has accused Erik ten Hag's creative midfielder of "throwing Garnacho under the bus" in a post-match press conference.

Garnacho came on in United's 4-2 win over Aston Villa to provide two assists in the Carabao Cup and stole the show as a substitute.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Bent said: “I didn’t like that one bit.

“When you talk to the media and you’re captain, you’ve got to look after the young players. He’s got a lot of potential around him because he’s playing really well.

“You don’t need people making up their mind before he’s had a fair crack at it. Now if he’s left out, or there’s something around him, they’re going to say ‘See. Bruno said he had a bad attitude.'

“He’s got to protect the younger players. You can’t be throwing them under the bus as they’ve just started.”

(Image via: Alamy)

What did Fernandes say about Garnacho?

Speaking to BT Sport, the Portuguese international said: “He was good, but he knows that we expect a lot from him.

“Obviously he’s still really young, he’s doing really well. He was not at his best at the beginning of the season.

“On the tour he didn’t have the best attitude that he should have had. And that’s why he didn’t get his chances until now. He’s getting his chances because he’s training better, having a different attitude and deserving his chances.”

Garnacho has reportedly recently overtaken Jadon Sancho in the pecking order on the left wing.

That may have contributed to Gareth Southgate's decision to leave the £73million signing out of the England squad for the World Cup.