Manchester United struggled to create and were lucky to come away with a point from Portman Road On Sunday in Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge.
It was Marcus Rashford who scored the opener within 90 seconds but after that, the visitors struggled with Ipswich Town creating the better opportunities.
And Amorim had Andre Onana to thank in the end for keeping the hosts down to a single goal while quite a few players did not look suited to the 39-year-old’s demands.
Bruno Fernandes played up top as part of the front three and looked like the system did not suit him as much as when given a free role behind the striker.
Bruno’s struggles
The club captain fared slightly better when he dropped deep into midfield but with Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo to come into the midfield, the Portuguese does not seem like he as a readymade role in the team.
Fernandes was present alongside Amorim for the pre-match press conference ahead of the Europa League tie against Bodo/Glimt and was asked about the difficulties in adapting to a new style after so many years of playing as the No 10 in Manchester.
“You always have to adapt to a different idea, different positions, even sometimes playing in the same system you have to adapt to different ideas of playing, on the ball and off the ball because the manager can ask different things.
“So, it’s not difficult for me to adapt in any position, I’m really aware of what we do in training. I try to absorb everything from every position.
“Obviously it’s not possible to get everything but I try to have an understanding of the game because being the captain, the manager can give the message from the bench to the pitch because of the noise or whatever so you have to try and solve the situations together with your team-mates.
“Knowing or having the knowledge of every position, what movements that they have to do, what kind of pressure the manager wants us to do, that’s also a little bit of my role.”
The former Sporting Lisbon star felt being a regular viewer of his former club’s games back when Amorim was in charge has helped him understand his role better.
Bruno, the Sporting fan
“I know very well what the players of Sporting were doing, I know exactly what they were doing in their positions, not because I was reading what the manager was doing there but because I was watching their games.”
Not only the attacking midfielder but plenty of United’s highly-paid stars are not used to Amorim’s style of playing three at the back while employing wing-backs.
Fernandes revealed that more than the experienced stars, it will be more challenging for the young stars to pick up Amorim’s demands as the international stars are used to playing in different systems for the national team.
In fact, Fernandes himself has played in a similar style for Portugal and that should stand him in good stead moving forward.
“I think it probably could be worse for the younger players because, for me, obviously, as the manager said, we are international players and every time you go to the national team, you probably play in a different system.
“For example, when I go to the national team sometimes we also play with a back three. Sometimes I play as a 10, sometimes I play a little bit deeper, sometimes I play a little bit wider so already in the national team I had that experience of a manager with a [different] formation.
International players can adapt faster
“Like the manager said, we play with a three at the back but we rotate and play different ways. You press them in one way, you defend in another way, you attack in a way, you always have to move.
“In the national team we do that a lot, so I don’t think age should be a problem, either older or younger, it’s about carrying the most you can from the dynamics and the players you have around.
“Then, I think every training session try to get something from the game and understand what the manager demands from us. At the end, as the manager said, you don’t need to overthink things, you just have to know that we have a base, a foundation and from there on you still have to play and do your game.”
Hopefully, the team will play with more confidence on Amorim’s home debut and pick up a win while looking more fluid on the ball. And the skipper will look to lead from the front as usual.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
