Erik ten Hag launched a strong defense of Bruno Fernandes on Wednesday after the Manchester United captain was branded a ‘disgrace’ for his attitude during last weekend’s humiliation against Liverpool.
Fernandes was accused of giving up and showing poor body language as Liverpool scored six times in the second half of their historic 7-0 win at Anfield on Sunday.
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The Portuguese midfielder appeared to push one of the assistant referees and ran into Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, leading some fans to call for him to be stripped of the captaincy.
Former United star Roy Keane has branded Fernandes a disgrace but Ten Hag says the 28-year-old is the right man to lead the team and will remain skipper when club captain Harry Maguire doesn’t play .
Hailing Fernandes as an “inspiration” ahead of Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg against Real Betis at Old Trafford, Ten Hag told reporters: “I think he is playing a brilliant season.
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“He’s been a huge part of why we’re in the position we’re in, because he energizes the team.
“He points and coaches the players. He is an inspiration to the whole team, but no one is perfect. Everyone has their mistakes and everyone has to learn.
“He will also learn because he is smart. I’m really happy to have Bruno Fernandes in my team and I’m really happy that Bruno Fernandes, if Harry is not on the pitch, is our captain. »
United striker Marcus Rashford also backed Fernandes, insisting he was a role model for the rest of the team.
“100% support”
“I love playing with Bruno, as you can imagine. He’s been a good leader for us even when he wasn’t captain, which is always a good sign,” he said.
“I have nothing negative to say about Bruno. As the manager said, no one is perfect.
“Sometimes you want to win so badly that you end up doing things that are a bit out of place, but listen, I support Bruno 100% and I’m behind him. »
United’s shocking performance against Liverpool was particularly surprising as Ten Hag’s side had just won the League Cup seven days earlier, ending the club’s six-year drought.
The Dutch manager held an account of the Anfield debacle with his side on Monday but is keen to look ahead rather than dwell on United’s heaviest defeat since 1931.
“We have to draw conclusions and we talked about the game. We saw the game, we have to reset and bounce back,” he said.
When asked if the players let him down, Ten Hag replied, “No, we’re in the same boat. We win together, we lose together. We made a mess on Sunday and we have to live with it.
“We want to be a great team, we want to win trophies, so you have to act differently. After Sunday, we had a great lesson. »
Ten Hag called United “unprofessional” immediately after the Liverpool game, but Rashford insisted his side hadn’t thrown in the towel as Jurgen Klopp’s men piled on goal.
“We didn’t give up, that’s nonsense,” Rashford said. “We weren’t organized, yes. The communication was bad, yes, that’s why we conceded the goals.
“We were trying to control the game when it was 2-0 and 3-0. We were talking but I don’t think we really agreed on what to do.
“Like the boss said, it’s about resetting now. That’s all we can do. There is no point dwelling on what happened because we cannot change it.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
