Bruno Fernandes maintained that the Manchester United players are sticking with manager Ruben Amorim through thick and thin even if it doesn’t always go to plan, after his team edged past Ipswich Town.
United beat the relegation-threatened Tractor Boys 3-2 at Old Trafford and showed glimpses of good football before Patrick Dorgu’s red card left them with ten men and a totally different gameplan.
Speaking to TNT Sport after the game, Fernandes sidestepped a question about Dorgu and instead explained how confidence is looking in the squad.
“We know that we have to stick with what we’ve been training and trying to do, what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “You could feel in moments that it’s not working but for some reason the manager wants us to do that.”
It’s a quote which reads worse than it was delivered, with the 30-year-old’s tone expressing faith in his manager rather than scepticism.
He went on to praise the backroom staff: “they watch so many games, they prepare themselves. We have a big staff, not only the ones that came with [Amorim] but the ones that are already here.
“We have great people behind the team to work on that, so if they do that in the right way we just have to come on the pitch and show it. And as I said we need to be more confident, be more brave, to show our character and our qualities.”
The Portuguese was key to United’s hard-fought win, notching one official assist but also delivering the ball which set up the own goal and the corner which was eventually scrambled home by Matthijs de Ligt.
Keen to emphasise that his team had good moments today, he said: “we scored from two set pieces but we were completely in control of the game, playing between the lines, finding the spaces, finding the gaps.”
Nevertheless, the perfectionist in the club captain offered thoughts on how the team could improve: “I think we’re still missing that little bit of aggressiveness going forward. When we beat our opposition between the lines, when we turn, we need to be more aggressive going into their box.
“But we’re going to get that with time, with players getting more confidence. When we win games you get more confidence, you get more brave, so hopefully in the next few games we’re going to score more.”
United host Fulham on Sunday in the FA Cup, and will be looking to build on tonight’s win to take another step towards some silverware.
Featured image Gareth Copley 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.
