Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes bemoaned the effect VAR has had on football’s biggest matches after a drab Manchester derby ended 0-0 at Old Trafford.
When asked on Sky Sports after the full-time whistle what it was like to play in the derby, Fernandes said: “It can’t be like it was in the past, a lot of things have changed, with VAR, everything.
“With VAR you can’t do that. We can’t be as rough as we want in the duels. Everything has changed.”
The 30-year-old was also unhappy with the result, explaining he was “happy with the performance but we need points.”
He added: “We played against a very good side but the game was there, we needed a killer instinct to get the goals. When you play against Manchester City, you know they will have a lot of the ball.
“The killer instinct was missing but we created a lot of chances. We have to carry on. Not just for the rest of the season, but everything that comes after.”
The Portuguese also fielded a question on how far off United are from where the club should be. He said: “It is not these games that will define that. Whenever we play big teams, we know the pressure and attention is there.
“If we want to be a big club, like Manchester City and Liverpool, we have to do that consistently. If after today we relax and think that this is enough, we go back again. We have to do this consistently.”
Based on manager Ruben Amorim’s comments after the match, there is no chance that the team will be able to relax and believe today’s performance was good enough.
Fernandes, whose individual performance was the highlight of the game, was asked if he felt he had a responsibility to be the difference.
He said: “We know that I will get more attention than others because I am the captain, and I need to be at a level every time I go on the pitch.
“Effort will never be missing and that has to be my main thing to show to the other players.”
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
