Manchester United began what is a huge week in the Erik ten Hag era with a 3-0 win over Leicester on Sunday. Next up is the second leg of their Europa League playoff with Barcelona, before they travel to Wembley to face Newcastle in the League Cup final. Victory on Sunday would deliver United their first silverware since they won the League Cup and Europa League under José Mourinho in 2017. For a club of United’s stature, six years without a trophy is too long.
That’s what makes Bruno Fernandes’s return to his best form all the more important. He started the season very slowly. In the 13 league games before the World Cup, Fernandes was directly involved in just three goals: he scored in wins over Southampton and Tottenham, and set up Marcus Rashford to score in United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal in September. Considering his scintillating form in the early years of his United career, he was unusually quiet.
There were a few mitigating factors for his slow start to the season. He was not the only United player who struggled to adapt to Ten Hag’s demands and style of play. But there is a clear identity in the side now, with Fernandes a vital cog in what is increasingly a winning machine. United have played 17 matches since the World Cup – 10 in the league, two in the FA Cup, four in the League Cup and one in the Europa League – and they have won 13 of them, with their only defeat coming against Arsenal in the league when they went down to an Eddie Nketiah winner in the last minute.
Fernandes had a strong World Cup, contributing directly to five goals in four games for Portugal, and his good form has continued. He picked up two more assists at the weekend, setting up Rashford and Jadon Sancho to score either side of half-time against Leicester.
United have struggled in the first half, with Ten Hag complaining that his side had been “rubbish” but the combination of Fernandes’s passing and Rashford’s running means they are always dangerous. Fernandes created nine goalscoring chances in the match – more than any other player has achieved in a league game this season (other than Fernandes himself, who also made nine key passes in United’s 2-0 win over Spurs back in October).
The main reason behind the upturn in Fernandes’s form is relatively obvious. Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit during the World Cup has lifted a weight off the other forwards in the squad. Suddenly, United are playing with the freedom that Ten Hag and the supporters craved. It’s no coincidence that the two players who have benefitted most from Ronaldo’s departure are Rashford and Fernandes, who both had to play support roles when Ronaldo was on the field.
While much has been made of Rashford’s superb goalscoring after the World Cup, and deservedly so, his performances have overshadowed just how impressive Fernandes has been. With a more mobile set of attackers in front of him, Fernandes has the ideal outlets to fully maximise his creative qualities. He has now hit double figures for assists this season, with Rashford very grateful.
Since returning from the World Cup, Rashford has scored 16 goals in 17 games. To put that in context, Chelsea have only scored six goals since the World Cup. Rashford has scored in nine of his last 10 league outings, with Fernandes providing much of the ammunition. Only Kevin De Bruyne to Erling Haaland (six goals) is a better assist-to-goalscorer combination than Fernandes to Rashford (five goals) in the Premier League this season.
Both players have benefitted from Ronaldo’s departure but that is not the only driving force behind the revival. Casemiro’s transition into the United team has been critical. Anyone who watched him win the Champions League five times at Real Madrid knew he would shield the United defence expertly, but there is so much more to his game than just winning and recycling possession, notably his desire to move the ball upfield quickly to help turn defence into attack. Casemiro has set up five goals for United this season but, more often than not, he goes through Fernandes.
The Brazilian has helped Fernandes in two ways. Firstly, there is a world-class player behind him who can carry out the nitty-gritty defensive work, which eases the burden on Fernandes to work hard out of possession. Secondly, with Casemiro always keen to pass the ball forward quickly as soon as he wins possession, Fernandes can be picked out in dangerous positions and wreak havoc on opposition defences. Add in a more mobile frontline in the wake of Ronaldo’s exit and it’s no surprise that Fernandes is creating so many chances.
As we near the business end of the campaign, United are still battling on four fronts. They are just five points behind league leaders Arsenal; they have home advantage in the second leg of their Europa League tie against Barcelona; they have a navigable FA Cup fifth-round meeting with West Ham later this month; and they are off to Wembley on Sunday for the League Cup final.
With Newcastle out of form and missing both their first- and second-choice goalkeepers, victory at Wembley could kickstart the quest for an unlikely quadruple. It is still just a pipe dream for United fans but, with Fernandes absolutely tearing it up, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility
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