Bruno Fernandes has come in for heavy criticism after he was recently involved in an accidental coming together with referee Chris Kavanagh.
The Manchester United captain was disrupted by the official when preparing to take a first half penalty against Fulham on Sunday (August 24), as Kavanagh bumped into him while he was stepping back to prepare his run-up.
Fernandes was visibly annoyed at the referee over the incident as he exchanged words with him before having to reset and start his penalty routine all over again.
This caused a delay for Fernandes in taking the penalty and it seemed to really affect him as he uncharacteristically blazed his spot-kick over the bar.
The player confronted Kavanagh during half-time of the Premier League contest as he remained deeply frustrated by the matter.
Fernandes' miss from the spot proved costly as United were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
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The Portuguese midfielder revealed to Sky Sports after the match that he was upset that Kavanagh did not apologise for the collision, which "triggered" him.
However, the United skipper admitted that the incident with the referee should not be an excuse for missing the penalty.
Former Arsenal star unimpressed with Fernandes' actions
Fernandes has come in for much criticism from football fans and the media for letting the accidental bump affect him aplenty.
Former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott is the latest to call out Fernandes' antics from Sunday, and he has not held back on the United star.
"It's a child's response. It was a really natural child reaction. It's like with kids, for instance if something happens they want to keep going on," he said on the latest episode of It's Called Soccer.
"But he's a professional athlete who's the captain of Manchester United. He needs to be stronger and blank everything out because you're playing for the biggest club in the world," the former Gunners star added.
"If that affects him, the referee bumping him, then they (United) got serious issues already. Fernandes' reaction really surprised me."
Walcott then suggested United boss Ruben Amorim may have to make serious changes to Fernandes' role to deal with the situation.
"He'll (Amorim) get him off the penalty duties or something. Get him off the captain armband perhaps."
Fernandes and United will be hoping to put last weekend's disappointing result in West London behind them, and get a first win of the season on Wednesday night, when the team takes on Grimsby Town away in the Carabao Cup second round.
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