Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes provided his thoughts after the 2-2 draw with Everton to conclude the Premier League Summer Series.
The captain scored a penalty to take his goal tally to three in the competition but was not too overexcited by the team’s overall performance.
“Lazy” performance
Speaking to NBC after the match Fernandes criticised the team’s effort by stating, “our performance wasn’t the best off the ball, we were a little bit lazy, and we have to avoid that because the laziness you can pay at any moment.”
United’s tactics in their first two matches against West Ham United and particularly AFC Bournemouth were much more proactive in terms of pressing and fans will hope this returns against Fiorentina next weekend.
More transfers needed
The captain was then asked about the summer recruitment and he claimed, “it’s improving, it’s not where we want it to be. I don’t want to have a dig at anyone but I think the club is doing the best they can in terms of all the financial situations they talk about.”
He elaborated, “I don’t know about it, I’m not involved in that, but obviously it was crystal clear we needed more competition for the players that were here.
United have already brought in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Diego Leon but are currently still in the market for a striker, goalkeeper and midfielder.
Fernandes explained, “we needed more quality to get everyone to step up a bit more to have more to do to get into the starting eleven and I think that’s what the club and the manager are trying to do and hopefully we can get one or two players more to help with that.”
Pressure
The 30-year-old also added that it was the players’ responsibility to make up for the terrible campaign that the club suffered last season.
He asserted, “it’s every detail, every small detail matters. At this football club you can’t do anything wrong on the pitch and off the pitch because it’s too big worldwide and you get punished by that.
Fernandes claimed that the pressure from the media and fans demanded a winning culture that needs to be instilled in the group.
The captain then took a moment to appreciate the people who have made sacrifices for the club by commenting on the staff who have lost their job and the fans who have to pay more money to come to games.
The midfielder finished his interview by claiming, “a lot of people have suffered from this, a lot of people who had been working at the club for many many years had to go. The fans are paying more for tickets and we appreciate all the effort they put in for us so now it’s up to us to pay it back on the pitch.”
Featured image AJ Reynolds via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
