Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has insisted that he and his teammates failed to stick to the plan in the first half of their 2-2 draw with Everton, and this is why Ruben Amorim was very frustrated with them.
United mounted an unlikely second-half comeback to salvage a valuable point against David Moyes’ resurgent Everton side at Goodison Park.
Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure fired the hosts into a comfortable lead before the break and it seemed like United were headed for another humiliating loss.
However, Fernandes’ free-kick injected some confidence into the team. Manuel Ugarte would go on to grab the equaliser, ensuring the Red Devils avoided a ninth defeat in 13 Premier League games.
After the game, the United skipper spoke to TNT Sports and gave his verdict on the match.
He insisted that the main problem in the first half was that there was no movement and everything was too static, which made it nearly impossible to create chances.
Fernandes also denied that United were left off the hook after a late VAR decision went their way and overturned Everton’s penalty appeal.
Asked if United were lucky that VAR sent Andy Madley to the monitor, Fernandes told TNT, “No, no, the referee said that the arm was very close from the body so that is nothing to do with us.”
“We had our chances in the second half but the problem is that we started too late. We didn’t win the first half, there wasn’t enough movement, we were too static and it was difficult to create in some situations.”
“We had to stick to the plan, that’s why the manager was very upset with us [about]. In the second half, we stuck to our ideas and played with much more freedom and movement.”
“We did create in some one-twos and stuff like that, we need to start the games better, we know that, we spoke in the half-time that every time we concede a goal then we are down.”
“It is the only time when we start and we think now we can take a little more risk and pass forward, because we are in the situation where we need to win games and create chances to score goals.”
United are back in action on Wednesday when they host Ipswich Town at Old Trafford.
Feature image Jan Kruger via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!