Bruno Fernandes called for more “danger” from his Manchester United team-mates after they struck late to claim a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the United captain dished out a dose of realism, explaining that his side are “not at the best level in the Premier League.”
He said: “It was very important not to lose the game today. We’re not at the best level in the Premier League, so we needed to get something. It’s not the result we wanted, but we had to push a little to get something.”
The point earned by Rasmus Hojlund’s late equaliser took United above Everton into 14th place, far below the levels a player with standards as high as the Portuguese would be happy with.
He continued: “We did enough to at least score one goal. We created enough chances to score more than one goal, but it’s still not enough from us. We need to have more anger than the defenders to get the ball. To get [the ball] first, you need to be focused in everything you do in training. That’s what we have to do from now on.
“We should have done it already and we’ve been doing it in training, but you need to do it in games.”
Operating from the midfield Fernandes did everything he could, making as many key passes as the entire Bournemouth team, but to no avail.
He said: “Sometimes you get one chance and you score a goal, and sometimes you get ten or 15 chances and don’t score. With the team we have, we need to get more bodies in the box, create more danger, be more active in the box, and outside the box be much more brave to take our chances.”
The point was secured by Hojlund, whose 96th-minute strike was just his fourth Premier League goal this season. The young striker has been feeling the pressure, and Fernandes acknowledged this.
He said: “He knows how much he needs to score goals at this club. If you want to be at a big club like Manchester United, you need to improve every time you step onto the pitch, but it’s not only up to him.
“Expectations on him are very high, and he has to deal with that. When he doesn’t score, he has to focus on what he needs to do a little bit differently to score.”
United’s Premier League campaign has been an unmitigated disaster, but they remain in the hunt for silverware and for Champions League football next season should they go all the way in the Europa League.
Ruben Amorim’s men face Athletic Club on Thursday in the first leg of the semi-final, and Fernandes was asked about the parallels between them and Bournemouth. “Both teams are very intense with very quick wingers who are very good in one v ones,” he said. “We have time now to try and focus on what Athletic are going to do, but we have to focus on what we’re going to do.”
Feature image Ryan Pierse via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
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.
