Earlier this season, critics had levelled questions at Bruno Fernandes for his ultimate output for Manchester United.
Up until the 2-0 win over Tottenham last month, the playmaker had scored just once and bagged two assists – a much lower return than previous seasons’ rate. But up until October, stats showed he was the most productive attacking player in the Premier League in spite of his lack of end product.
Ahead of the now infamous Spurs match that will be remembered for Cristiano Ronaldo’s walkout, Fernandes hit back at those criticising his performances. “If you play as a number ten you will have a lot of last balls and sometimes it is a risky pass,” he said.
“I want to score my goals, I want to assist more but that will never be a problem. If my work rate is there, if the work I have been doing for the team is okay, I am pretty sure I will get my goals and assists.”
He backed that up perfectly with a goal against Tottenham in what was seemingly a poignant win for United. After a subsequent short dry spell, Fernandes has firmly put the concerns about his output to bed.
Some had put his reduced contributions down to Ronaldo’s presence, saying it was hampering his play. He’s produced enough in his World Cup outings for Portugal to mute that talk, even if his teammate did try to claim his goal against Uruguay on Monday.
He ultimately ended that game with two goals after recording two assists in the previous 3-2 win over Ghana. And in Portugal’s warm-up friendly 4-0 win over Nigeria, he netted twice.
The midfielder failed to tally in the 2-1 win over Fulham in United’s final game before the break but had already bagged a goal and an assist in the 4-2 League Cup win over Aston Villa three days earlier. It makes for five goals and three asists in his last five outings.
“Obviously class is permanent, you either have it or you don’t but life is made by challenge and I have to challenge myself,” Fernandes insisted pre-Tottenham. He has clearly done that and is showing his true class, silencing his doubters in doing so.