08 February 2023 , 10:50
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Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has responded in perfect fashion after club legend Paul Scholes suggested he could be a problem under Ralf Rangnick's reign last season.
Fernandes has near-enough been a constant shining light for the Red Devils since he arrived at Old Trafford three years ago, but towards the back end of last season was the subject of an eyebrow-raising suggestion from Scholes. The former England ace made the claim in February of last year at a time when United's form as a collective was particularly patchy.
His comments came after a disappointing home performance against Southampton that ended with the honours even. While none of the United players could come away from the 1-1 draw with their head held high, Scholes singled out Fernandes at full-time.
"I think Fernandes could be a bit of a problem, Scholes claimed, "As much as he's a talented lad, when he first came to England he scored so many good goals, so many assists, but he's all over the football pitch."
Scholes also went on to bemoan how many of the United players venturing out of their designated positions far too often, including Fernandes.
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"A coach will tell you better there from a defensive point of view, how can you set up a shape when you've no idea where the start of it - [Cristiano] Ronaldo is the start then it's Fernandes - how can you set traps for teams when you don't know where some of your players are gonna be?"
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He continued: "You see Fernandes, sometimes he's a right-back, sometimes left-back, the end of the game he's playing behind [Diogo] Dalot for five minutes. They're either not taking instructions on or they don't want to."
Perhaps, 12 months down the line, it was more a case of questionable coaching than anything Fernandes was intentionally doing, as the Portugal international has enjoyed a drastically improved campaign under Erik ten Hag.
The attacking midfielder is sitting on five goals and four assists in the league thus far, with vital contributions against the likes of fellow big-six sides Arsenal, Tottenham and local rivals Manchester City.
Fernandes seems to be enjoying life under the Dutchman and recently discussed how Ten Hag has helped improve morale and mentality at Old Trafford by citing the punishment he dished out to the players following their humiliating 4-0 defeat by Brentford back in August.
The manager made United's stars run 13.8km in training the very next day, a reference to the amount Brentford outran them on the day.
Explaining his initial reaction, Fernandes told the Manchester Evening News : “Why do we have to do it like this?"
Erik ten Hag has made progress in getting the best out of Bruno Fernandes this term"[But] when a manager does the punishment - because that's what you have to call it, it was a punishment - obviously it makes us feel he knows he was part of that bad result and he wants to make us understand we are together on this in a good way, in a bad way, in the good moments and in the bad moments.
"All of a sudden, you look backwards and you see your manager running with you. I don't know exactly what the distance was but it was a big distance."
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