Bruno Fernandes has taken out his Manchester United frustrations on social media, but he's far from the first player to do so

Bruno Fernandes seems to have vented his frustration on social media after being dropped for Manchester United's 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Yet the club concerningly has a rich recent history of their stars spitting dummies out online.

United are in a rut. Under Michael Carrick, their season has started abysmally and they have just one Premier League win to their name. They're out of the Carabao Cup after losing to Brighton and their most recent European venture saw them battered 4-1 by Como.

On Sunday, they needed to show some spine against the Cherries but lost 3-0 in the latest damning result of the season. But skipper Fernandes played no part. He had spoken out against his boss in the week and was dropped to the Old Trafford bench - though Carrick insisted this was purely a sporting decision.

United perhaps could have used their Portuguese talisman as they were humiliated by Marco Rose's side, but Fernandes was an unused substitute. In the wake of the loss, his social media activity - liking a specific post - is being treated as him passive-aggressively throwing his toys out of the pram.

But the 32-year-old father of two is not the first United star to use social media as a vessel for public agitation and he won't be the last. Mirror Football takes a look at seven times United players and those associated with them have thrown online tantrums in recent years.

Bruno Fernandes (2026)

To be specific, the benched captain's official Instagram account liked a reel that has the caption: "Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care." This occurred not long after Sunday's loss.

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In the reel, a Sisyphus-esque rock monster is depicted protecting a city from a giant boulder. The citizens then turn on him, at which point he lets the boulder he was holding back destroy the city in its entirety.

Fernandes might just be a fan of the animation, or maybe the reel's backing tune, Macarena. However, it's still likely that this cryptic bit of online activity represents how he's feeling at this current stage.

Kobbie Mainoo's brother (2025)

Just last year, some more social media rumblings caused a stir at United - though this time it wasn't a player directly creating them. Under Ruben Amorim, the promising Kobbie Mainoo had had his minutes cut down dramatically.

Amorim made it clear he wasn't part of his plans, despite having shown potential in United's midfield and for England at Euro 2024. Fans disagreed, but the Portuguese coach stood firm. Mainoo requested a loan move away last summer, but this never materialised. He must have been frustrated, though it was not he who took action. It was his half-brother, Jordan Mainoo-Hames.

During a match against none other than Bournemouth in December 2025, Mainoo's brother was snapped in the Old Trafford stands wearing a plain black t-shirt with "FREE KOBBIE MAINOO" on it in large, white writing. He immediately uploaded these pictures to his Instagram account and both he and Mainoo came under scrutiny.

Amorim responded quite diplomatically, saying: "It was not Kobbie that wore the t-shirt. He is not going to start because of the t-shirt or go to the bench because of it. He is going to play if he is the right player to play." Eventually, Amorim was given the boot and Mainoo returned to first-team contention.

Alejandro Garnacho (2024)

Like Fernandes, ex-United star Alejandro Garnacho found himself in hot water after liking specific posts with his official account. In April 2024, the Argentine was hauled off at half-time during a match away at… Bournemouth. Who knew the Cherries could cause such head loss?

The game ended 2-2 and Garnacho was visibly annoyed with manager Erik ten Hag for taking him off. So much so that on X, his account liked two posts by fan content creator Mark Goldbridge.

One post read: "Ten Hag subtly blaming Garnacho in the post-match press conference... Not a good look throwing a 19-year-old under the bus who has actually delivered for you this season." The other branded the substitution as "a joke."

Garnacho later unliked these posts and Ten Hag confirmed that he had apologised. He was eventually frozen out under Amorim before being sold to Chelsea in August 2025 for £40million. He is currently on loan at Aston Villa.

Jadon Sancho (2023)

Perhaps the most infamous and damaging outburst on this list came from Jadon Sancho. In September 2023, the winger, who had cost United £73m just two years earlier, was completely excluded from Ten Hag's squad that travelled to Arsenal for a 3-1 defeat.

The player was not injured and Ten Hag stated that he was not selected because of his performance in training. This angered the Englishman, who took to X and damningly stated: "Please don't believe everything you read!

"I will not allow people saying things that was entirely untrue. I have conducted myself in training very well this week... I have been a scapegoat for a long time which isn't fair!"

Sancho pinned this post to the top of his profile for a week before deleting it. He refused Ten Hag's demand to make an internal and public apology, was banned from using the club's facilities and shipped out on loan to Borussia Dortmund four months later.

The two did draw a line under the feud when he returned, but the truce was short-lived: Sancho was loaned out to Chelsea then Villa before his United contract expired this summer. He is still without a club at 26.

Jesse Lingard and his brother (2022)

Both Jesse Lingard and his brother Louie Scott had a pop in 2022. That January, the attacker had sought a move to Newcastle after falling out of favour with interim boss Ralf Rangnick. However, the move was blocked and in a press conference, Rangnick said Lingard was absent from an FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough because he'd asked for days off to "clear his mind."

The player immediately contradicted this by posting on Twitter (now X): "The club advised me to have time off due to personal reasons! But my headspace is clear and I'll always be professional when called upon and give 100 per cent."

An acrimonious departure soon followed the February 2022 public spat, as Lingard's contract expired. United beat Brentford 3-0 in the final home game of the season and whilst Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani all made farewell appearances, Lingard did not.

He was an unused substitute and left months later for Nottingham Forest. Lingard's brother did not take kindly to this and posted on his Instagram story: "20 years of blood sweat and tears, four domestic trophies, three cup final goals, not even a farewell. No wonder it's Conference League next year."

Anthony Martial (2022)

Rangnick seemingly attracted online controversy in 2022 and Lingard and his brother were not the only ones who felt aggrieved - so did Anthony Martial. In January, Rangnick named his team to face Aston Villa and Martial was nowhere to be seen.

Asked why, the manager stated: "He didn't want to be in the squad. He would have been in the squad normally, but he didn't want to and that was the reason why he didn't travel with us yesterday."

Martial, like Lingard, then directly batted this back online, stating on his Instagram story: "I will never refuse to play a match for Man United. I've been here for seven years and I never disrespected and will never disrespect the club and the fans."

Rangnick quickly chalked this interaction down to miscommunication and he wasn't kept on after a short spell as interim boss. Martial left the club in 2024 and is currently a free agent after spells at AEK Athens and Monterrey.

Sergio Romero's wife (2020)

Two years before Rangnick's discord, the wife of goalkeeper Sergio Romero made her feelings crystal clear on social media. The Argentine shot-stopper was third-choice at United in the summer of 2020 and sought an exit.

Everton reportedly launched a deadline-day loan bid, but United refused the deal. Romero's wife, Eliana Guercio, was furious and she tore into the club on Instagram. The goalkeeper was effectively frozen out for the entire season until his contract expired in the summer of 2021. He then headed to Italian side Venezia.

His wife posted: "Sergio Romero worked hard for his club. Last trophy they won, they lifted it with him. He helped the team reach four finals/semi-finals and then he was left on the bench only to lose them all. It is time for them to return the opportunity and let him go. RESPECT FOR ONCE!"