Bruno Fernandes praises togetherness of Manchester United after City win
The Portuguese midfielder was full of praise for his side after their 2-1 victory, but did his words have a deeper meaning?
Nowadays, nothing in football is simple. Transfers are complex negotiations worth millions of dollars; keeping the grass in perfect conditions is a task of microscopic precision; in-game tactics vary and flow from one system to another in mere seconds, and the tiniest details can be fatal. Even a seemingly straightforward answer about team spirit isn’t, well, straightforward. Bruno Fernandes commented after the win over Manchester City that “now we are playing like a team. Some months ago, maybe some players were playing for themselves.”
Now who could he possibly be talking about?
Since the return to club football after the World Cup, Manchester United have been on an extraordinary run in which they have played 7 and won 7, scoring 17 times and conceding just twice. Erik ten Hag has gone from a manager under the constant pressure of beady eyes in the back of his head to a man who is riding the wave of Old Trafford, now noisy again, just like before.
A new beginning for the club?
At the start of the season, the club had decided that keeping Ronaldo was the best thing to do, with the forward having contributed heavily in terms of goals in the previous campaign. But things at the top - even above Ronaldo, it turned out - started to change. Manager Ralf Ragnick was removed and replaced by a shiny Erik ten Hag, who came from the fame of an all-pressing Ajax side that dominated teams across Europe. Ten Hag implemented his style immediately on the team, asking them to press high and dominate in all areas of the pitch, both on and off the ball. The new Manchester United was transforming under the surface, waiting to break free.
But it failed to do so. OK, the points were there, they finished the pre-World Cup part of the league in the top 6, but things weren’t working in reality as they appeared to on paper. They had a strong goalkeeper, serial Champions League winners in the defence and midfield lines, as well as one of the best players of all time up front.
Now we are playing like a team. Some months ago, maybe some players were playing for themselves.
The new, new Manchester United
It was obvious: the huge monolith up front, walking around in fake glasses and a plastic moustache, pretending to be ‘one of the gang’, anxiously waiting for Scooby-Doo to rip off his disguise and reveal the huge white elephant. Ronaldo, despite scoring goals, was becoming a burden on his team, forcing them to balance somewhere between adapting to the new style and confirming to his lack of pressing, a key factor in the manager’s system.
Was the answer as simple as letting Ronaldo go? How would ten Hag and the club even go about that? How was it possible to relieve him of his massive contract that he had signed?
The strange TV interview Ronaldo did in which he slammed everybody at the club from the painters and decorators to the manager himself was the event horizon of the black hole, the point at which nothing can escape, not even Ronaldo. And it was the key to creating the new, new Manchester United. Ronaldo’s contract was swiftly cut short after his appearance on a TV channel people in the UK didn’t even know existed, with the player becoming a free agent during the World Cup. And with this, the club could finally stretch out its wings and fly away.
Since then, 7 straight wins and millions of goals have come, City have been beaten and it looks like second place is up for grabs. Manchester United’s second version of themselves in one season feels like a dangerous beast, one that we’ve seen before, a long time ago now, back when things were simple.
And Bruno Fernandes, we know what you mean.