Gary Neville believes that Bruno Fernandes is not being made to play with discipline at Manchester United.
Fernandes has probably been United’s best player over the years since his arrival in January 2020, and the Portuguese midfielder regularly contributes important goals and assists.
He has however received criticism for a failure to keep his emotions in check, and speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, former United defender Neville said that the player needed to focus his energy rather than drift across the pitch.
He noted: “Any team that is anything at all, you see repeated pass patterns and combinations. I think about Bruno Fernandes, and I watched him on Sunday, he’s obviously the best player in terms of talent – but he’s everywhere. He must be being told to go and do what he wants.
“I don’t think Bruno Fernandes is that type of guy. If, for Pep Guardiola, a player plays out of position for a minute or two, he’s on the sideline saying, ‘Get back into your position’, and I think Ten Hag is giving him the freedom to go everywhere, and actually that means you can never have a combination or a pattern – when you’ve got your main midfield player everywhere on the pitch.
“It’s almost like 20 years ago, where your number 10 was given licence to play. That’s gone now, you have to fit within a combination and pattern system and attacking shape, and that’s the bit that I think Bruno is told he must be able to go everywhere. I never see Ten Hag going up to him and telling him to get back into position.”
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