Micah Richards has claimed the on-pitch conduct of Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes is “pathetic” and is to the detriment of the Red Devils.

Fernandes was named as United’s captain at the start of the season, replacing Harry Maguire as skipper after the England international was demoted from the role. Given the defender was out of the side for much of the campaign last time around, Fernandes already has plenty of experience when it comes to donning the armband for Erik ten Hag’s men.

It has been a relatively underwhelming start to the season for United. They can consider themselves fortunate to have beaten Wolves 1-0 in their first outing after spending large portions of the game on the back foot, before they were toppled by Tottenham in north London last Saturday, falling to a 2-0 defeat.

The sense of dread that has met the start of the campaign from the fans appears to have filtered through to the players, who looked particularly agitated against Ange Postecoglou’s side. The most notable flashpoint came when Fernandes berated his much-younger team-mate Facundo Pellistri after an attack broke down.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Richards addressed the moment and said: “It’s getting embarrassing now. The young lad Pellistri comes on, Fernandes is trying to get his team playing and I totally understand he’s frustrated.

“Pellistri made a run, Fernandes didn’t see him and [so] he made a different run but because he wasn’t where [Fernandes] needed him to be, he’s going off at Pellistri. It’s every time. I saw an interview with him the other day and he said he needs to be emotional when he performs because it makes him play better.

“But I feel like his body language on the pitch is disturbing the rest of the team and it’s just not a good look at all. It’s pathetic at times.”

Fernandes has often had his behaviour called into question, earlier this year Liverpool legend Graeme Souness insisted that the 28-year-old was not fit to be named as captain of a club the stature of United’s.

Speaking on the Up Front with Simon Jordan podcast, Souness claimed: “He is obviously not a leader, it’s as plain as the nose on the end of your face he is not a leader. His attitude when they went 3-0 down at Liverpool was appalling. I said at the time, you would not want to be in the trenches with him, simple as.

“Fernandes you’ll see be a star when they are on top, when they are on the front foot and he is creative, he’s a real talent, but he showed a side of himself [during the 7-0 defeat by Liverpool] that day at Anfield which was really unattractive. The manager United have right now is willing to overlook that because he is going to win them games moving forward.”