Two years ago, if you said Bruno Fernandez would have been questioned by Manchester United, most people would have laughed at you for not knowing the ball, when the Portuguese midfielder was the absolute core of the Red Devils and indispensable. However, now his state is beginning to be criticized by more and more people.
United lost 1-0 at home to Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 and were eliminated, and B Fee, who had recovered from the new crown, returned to the starting line-up, but was replaced early, and experts questioned whether Lonnick should not let him replace Pogba to start.
What's more, some of his teammates pointed out that Fernandez did not listen to the coach (uncoachable), always played his own way on the field, and lacked overall discipline. These were the strengths of United's new core in the past, when the Red Devils lacked creativity and needed Fernandez's freedom to play as a "thigh" to create attacking opportunities on their own.
At that time, United's goals and assists were counting on Fernandez, he could play as he wanted, and the whole team revolved around him. However, with the change of personnel structure and the addition of superstars such as C Ronaldo, Fernandez lost this position of absolute control of the scene, and his two-sidedness was exposed when he needed to serve the overall tactics.
For example, Fernandez has a natural sense of leadership, likes to shout and direct his teammates on the field, and the Portuguese midfielder is outspoken when other players make mistakes. But insiders said that when B Fei played well, there was no problem in doing so, and teammates had to listen.
However, now that he is no longer the absolute core and is not in good enough shape, continuing to maintain the same attitude will be perceived by others as a negative destruction of the team atmosphere rather than a positive move to encourage his teammates. There were also criticisms of Fernandez's style and behavior for causing tactical confusion, disrupting the team's system, and even the coaching staff was unable to change the style of B Fee.
The setback for Fernandez, 27, is predictable. Because his style of play is based on the heavy use of the ball, making adventurous straight blocks, over-the-top passes and long-range shooting attempts, as long as he scores one or two goals or assists, he can ensure that he has a good record card for this game.
However, due to consecutive appearances under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Fernandez was overly fatigued, and United had to start changing the way they played and increasing the overall proportion of football, rather than relying too much on the individual abilities of the core players. All this means that B Fee's influence will gradually weaken, and once the protection of goals and assists is lost, its mistakes in passing and possession will be magnified, just like the encounter in Portugal.
The tragedy of the sudden transformation from thigh to drag also happened to former Arsenal and Manchester United superstar Alexis Sanchez, with many similarities between B Fee. Both are scrappy, like to lead the team forward with their ability, and are keen to try passes and shots with a low success rate.
When B Fee and Alexis Sanchez are in good shape and the whole team revolves around themselves, they are the gods that the team and fans worship; but if they don't perform well, teammates and fans may turn to dissatisfaction with them.
If he can't change his playing style in time, Fernandez may face the same embarrassment as Sanchez in the future, hearing more and more criticism from the outside world and even being forced to leave Manchester United.