Bruno Fernandes has been deployed in a two-man central midfield by Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim lately, with the team beating Sunderland and Liverpool
Ruben Amorim has been told that playing Bruno Fernandes as a central midfielder in his current system will come back to bite him eventually. Manchester United are on a two-match winning streak ahead of Saturday’s match against Brighton, but former United coach Rene Meulensteen thinks they are threading on thin ice.
United have beaten Sunderland and Liverpool to spark some renewed optimism around the club following a poor start to the campaign. Amorim has stuck by his tried and tested 3-4-3 formation, despite much criticism from pundits and fans alike.
Club captain Fernandes has been fielded in a midfield two alongside Casemiro in the 2-0 win over Sunderland the 2-1 victory at Anfield. He has shown plenty of desire to get around the pitch, but the Portuguese is an attack-minded player and Meulensteen is concerned that his lack of defensive discipline will cause problems.
“The system isn’t the problem. It’s the execution of the system because every system has its pros and cons. If you opt for a 3-4-3 formation, you expect certain qualities. You need to create chances and score goals,” Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant told CasinoHawks.
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“To do that, you need possession, penetration, movement, and all the elements that come with it. You need crosses in the box and numbers in the box. Bruno has been dropped a little deeper, but he lacks defensive discipline, and that will still be exposed. That will still be exposed by other teams, maybe by a different system.
“So, we can discuss it, but we’ll come back to the same conclusion. Only when United go on a run of seven to eight wins in a row can you probably start to see that the players have clicked into the system.
“Plenty of other teams play the same system and do it really, really well. No problem at all. But it would be a bit premature for me to say that just because they beat Liverpool.
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“Again, Liverpool missed so many chances to basically get a draw. If it were a draw, everyone would have said, ‘Okay, fair result. United defended well, but they didn’t create much in the second half, or what they did create, they didn’t put it in the back of the net.’ So, I would be a little bit reserved on that one.”
Fernandes has been happy to do what is being asked of him by his manager, with summer signings Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha up front, supported by Mason Mount. The 31-year-old will make his 300th appearance for United on Saturday and Amorim has summed him up in the build-up to the game.
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“The frustration that he feels is because he wants to help his team-mates a lot,” the United boss said. “Sometimes it’s not the best way but he comes from a good place and you don’t know that when you are not here. He wants the responsibility all the time.
“He suffers a lot with the losses. Every time we don’t win a game, you can feel it. He takes it personally, as he should as a captain. He is a great leader, a great footballer, so let’s see if he’s going to reach that mark tomorrow.”
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