Gary Neville claims Bruno Fernandes is playing ‘like it’s 20 years ago’ as he calls for Man Utd to make change
BRUNO FERNANDES plays football “like it’s 20 years ago”, claims Manchester United legend Gary Neville.
The Portuguese skippered the Red Devils as they drew 2-2 with Tottenham last weekend.
Neville, 48, watched the game at Old Trafford in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports.
Reflecting on Fernandes’ performance while appearing on the Stick to Football podcast, the former full-back revealed the flaw he sees in his game.
He said: “Any team that is anything at all, you see repeated pass patterns and combinations.
“I think about Bruno Fernandes, and I watched him on Sunday, he’s obviously the best player in terms of talent – but he’s everywhere.
“He must be being told to go and do what he wants. I don’t think Bruno Fernandes is that type of guy.
“If, for Pep Guardiola, a player plays out of position for a minute or two, he’s on the sideline saying, ‘Get back into your position’.
“And I think Ten Hag is giving him the freedom to go everywhere, and actually that means you can never have a combination or a pattern – when you’ve got your main midfield player everywhere on the pitch.
“It’s almost like 20 years ago, where your No10 was given licence to play.
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“That’s gone now, you have to fit within a combination and pattern system and attacking shape, and that’s the bit that I think Bruno is told he must be able to go everywhere.
“I never see Ten Hag going up to him and telling him to get back into position.”
Man Utd have slumped to seventh in the Premier League, eight points off the top four – and are ten worse off than there were this time last season.
Fernandes, 29, has scored just three goals in 20 Prem appearances this term, adding a further trio of assists.
Neville’s fellow pundit Jamie Carragher also likened United’s football to 20 years ago – potentially pointing the finger at a member of their coaching staff.
He asked: “Do you think Steve McClaren is an influence [to the style of Manchester United’s play]?
“The reason I say that is because when you talk about the style of play, it’s probably the style of play that we all played.
“Sometimes you might play in Europe, counterattacking, or you play a small team at home, and you know you are going to have lots of the ball. United feel like it’s football from our day, 20 years ago.”
Roy Keane, meanwhile, took a swipe at boss Erik ten Hag.
The Irishman, 52, said: “Sometimes the team can reflect the attitude of the manager.
“You see [Jürgen] Klopp up and at them, but you do listen to the Manchester United manager, and you think, I just want to see a bit more personality from him and the team sometimes reflect that.”
Man Utd will return to action on January 28 when they travel to League Two Newport County in the FA Cup fourth round.