Kolkata: “I believe a captain can make a difference and influence the course of a match,” Bryan Robson had said. The longest serving captain in the history of Manchester United, Robson led for 12 years and was a key player in the campaign that helped the club regain the league in 1992-93 after 26 years.

For Gary Neville, Robson was a hero. “He epitomised everything I thought a United player should be,” the United right back has written in “Red”, his autobiography. “He flogged himself to the end of every game…He was a true leader. When he burst into the box, it was like his life depended on it.”

Robson has also spoken of the importance of the captain controlling his temper. United’s current captain Bruno Fernandes has some distance to cover in terms of internalising the recommendation on anger management. In Sunday’s FA Cup match against Arsenal, Fernandes was booked for dissent.

Robson saw one red card in his time as Manchester United captain. Fernandes has seen three this term but one was rescinded.

But about the rest of what Robson has said on captaincy, or Neville about the former midfielder, Fernandes has enough of. Fernandes’s heat map shows him in every area of the Emirates pitch barring a strip on the right in Arsenal’s half. Fernandes was involved in 13 defensive actions and 11 that led to build-ups. Individually, his numbers do not stand out. He was ninth on the list of passes, fifth in defensive action, sixth in attacking sequence involvements and fourth in progressive passes. But taken together, they show a player leading from the front.

Fernandes converted his penalty in the tie-breaker and had scored from his only entry in the Arsenal penalty area. With United a player light following Diogo Dalot’s 61st minute red card, Fernandes walked away from taking a throw to keep the ball in Arsenal’s half and kill a second. When Altay Bayindir was injured, Fernandes went and spoke to the United goalkeeper and given Alejandro Garnacho’s recent troubles with new manager Ruben Amorim, Fernandes’s public acknowledgement for the assist was a huge show of faith.

With the caveat that this was third round match in FA Cup and that they are still 13th in the league table, there were a number of positives for United. Apart from out-of-the-world clearances, once from almost on the goalline, United’s centre-backs are pushing up in the midfield. There was redemption for Bayindir and Joshua Zirkzee converting the last penalty was proof of his confidence and head coach Ruben Amorim’s trust in the player hooked after 33 minutes against Newcastle.

But the match was also about Fernandes and you need to look no further than against Newcastle to see how in his absence, because of suspension, United went pear-shaped.

Against Liverpool one week ago, Fernandes had teamed with Dalot to attack right back Trent Alexander Arnold. And it was with three opponents around him that Fernandes threaded a pass for Lisandro Martinez to score at Anfield. In two successive away matches in different competition and against the top two teams in the Premier League, Manchester United have scored first against. Fernandes was involved in both.

With seven goals and 11 assists in 29 matches this season, Fernandes has the most goal contributions at United. He is the player they rely on for corner-kicks, the defence-splitting pass, arriving late in the penalty area to score, for penalties (he has missed six of the 62 penalties he has taken in his career) and to defend the near post during corner-kicks.

Since joining five years ago from Sporting Lisbon on a £68m deal when Paul Pogba was injured, Fernandes, 30, has been shouldering United’s creative burden. There is an element of risk in his game in that Fernandes can give the ball away. But because Mason Mount has been struggling with injury and Christian Eriksen not being as effective defending in midfield, in Fernandes every coach at United has trusted. Even when he was not in form, like at the beginning of this season.

Pace and strength are not his strengths which can explain why Fernandes has not had a major injury. He started 35 Premier League matches last season and 19 of the 20 United have played in the league this term. He has won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award thrice. Only Cristiano Ronaldo and David de Gea have more.

Fernandes will stay at United till 2027, maybe even 2028. Amorim has said the club needs leaders and in Fernandes they have one who can be an example to young players such as Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Højlund, Zirkzee, Lenny Yoro and Garnacho.