Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has acknowledged his team-mates’ bravery during the 3-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, seemingly refusing to blame a single player for the defeat, which is the right thing to do in my opinion.
The feedback for the mistakes made should always be dealt with in private for the better of the squad. That said, some of the errors that were made were schoolboy errors and it should have been much different for some of these ‘professional’ football players.
United were 2-0 down by half time after Casemiro made two errors which allowed Luis Diaz to score a brace for the away side. It was a devastating blow for United. Eleven minutes into the second half, Liverpool were 3-0 after Mohamed Salah scored another Old Trafford goal.
Fernandes likened United’s performance to the first half hour of the 1-0 victory over Fulham at Old Trafford in the Premier League a fortnight ago – which is United’s only victory of the season so far. Liverpool were much more clinical when errors saw them score. Fernandes said:
“We started the game really well and got more chances. We have to be more clinical, this happened against Fulham too. They [Liverpool] were clinical. I don’t look at the stats but the game was tight.“
Despite the scoreline, United were on par with Liverpool having more possession (52.8%), three fewer shots on goal that Liverpool (eight), but had more touches (695), passes (507) and tackles (32) so it was not a massive void between the two side, other than goals scored.
United’s captain, Fernandes, is determined to keep the squad sticking together, which is the way it should be done and backed his team-mates’ willingness to ‘take risks and be brave in possession’. Fernandes continued speaking after the match, saying:
“We don’t need to be pointing fingers at everyone, that won’t help us now. What’s the point in saying Casemiro lost the ball or Kobbie [Mainoo] lost the ball? They lost the ball because they wanted to be brave. It’s part of football. Don’t make it individual.”
It is admirable to see the captain of the club sticking by the players as the result is not down to any one individual. Casemiro made two errors resulting in two conceded goals. But other players made errors with Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee both missing the target, amongst other mistakes.
Fernandes spoke about Casemiro’s errors suggesting that the Brazilian international has more experience than him, which is humble. Casemiro left the Old Trafford club at half time after being substituted for Toby Collyer for the second half of the match. Fernandes said:
“Casemiro is more experienced than me. I don’t need to tell him anything, he knows what football is about. He’s played for the two best clubs in the world. Kobbie is an excellent kid. I want him to try more and do this because it’s part of his game. They are huge players for us and will keep being.”
United now have 12 days to regroup as it is the first international break of the 2024/25 season. Some players will be playing international football, with other left at the clubs Carrington training complex to get ready for the clash with Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday 14 September, a 12:30 kick off.
Written by Paul
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