Ten Hag lauds ‘brilliant’ Fernandes after criticism following Manchester United’s defeat to Liverpool

FOOTBALL Ten Hag lauds ‘brilliant’ Fernandes after criticism following Manchester United’s defeat to Liverpool

Kiplagat Sang • 11:43 - 10.03.2023

The forward was outstanding as the Red Devils beat Real Betis.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has praised Bruno Fernandes for his performance against Real Betis in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

The Red Devils captain was superb against the La Liga outfit but the Portuguese international had been severely criticized following United’s 7-0 loss at Anfield.

"He was the best player on the pitch and it showed his personality. He played in a little bit of a deeper role tonight [Thursday], he was brilliant," Ten Hag said, as quoted by Sky Sport.

"He was a leader in playmaking from deep and controlling the rhythm of the game. He had a lot of good passes in between the lines and from there-on we created a lot of chances."

"He led the team from the first minute by his game, with possession, make the rhythm of the game and score a goal so I'm happy."

The former Ajax manager revisited their humbling defeat against the Reds blaming their own mistakes then.

"It's not about ignoring [Sunday's game], we made mistakes and we got hammered for that. We didn't control the standards we have," the Dutchman continued.

"If you could say we showed complacency, you can never do that in top football. In the weeks before [the Liverpool defeat] I was not happy with the performance against Newcastle, I was not happy against Leicester with the performance in the first half."

To him, the big loss at the hands of Liverpool was an eye-opener after a series – in his own eyes - of poor performances.

"Sometimes you need a bad result to open everyone's eyes first," he concluded.

"It was, but I thought it was the best line-up when I saw Betis. We have played 23 games in a row with one loss, and even though the 24th was a huge defeat you cannot ignore the 22 games before where this team has played very well."

United will host Southampton on Sunday for a Premier League showdown.