Bruno Fernandes has acknowledged that Erik ten Hag kept his promise by attacking players like Cristiano Ronaldo.
At the conclusion of Manchester United’s worst Premier League campaign ever, the Dutchman was named manager. He moved swiftly to change the squad’s culture, which was characterized by poor body language and negative training ground leaks.
Ten Hag soon demonstrated that things would be different under his leadership in contrast to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s arm-around-the-shoulder approach.
During a summer tour of Asia and Australia, Ten Hag imposed his own principles, and the players rapidly learned what would and wouldn’t work.
When the team returned to Manchester, Ronaldo who missed the summer trip started to agitate for a transfer.
After making it known that he intended to leave, the Portuguese striker initiated crisis discussions with Ten Hag just a few weeks into his position.
He would eventually stay at Carrington to begin the season, but rapidly shifted to the position of “supersub” rather than a certain starter.
Throughout the first half of the season, the tense relationship displayed a number of cracks, including a significant instance where he refused to enter as a substitute.
Prior to the commencement of the World Cup, Ronaldo’s departure from Old Trafford was finally made official thanks to an explosive Piers Morgan interview.
The veteran claimed that Ten Hag disrespected him and pushed him toward the exit door during their conversation.
And Fernandes said that Ronaldo, along with players like Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, were setting an example for the rest of the team that indiscipline would not be accepted, regardless of rank, in an interview with Rio Ferdinand for BT Sport.
“He demands from people. He demands and you either do it, or you’re out,” Bruno Fernandes clarified.
“In the beginning everyone was like: ‘Will he do that if a big player doesn’t do what he wants? Will he pull him apart or not?’
“And then he did it many times, he did it with Cristiano, he did it with Jadon and with Marcus also.”
Given that Ronaldo is no longer a member of the team and Harry Maguire is unable to secure a starting position, Fernandes is frequently used as Manchester United captain.
Even though many people think his projected pessimism on the field hurts his teammates, the Portuguese attacking midfielder embraced the position.
He added: “Sometimes when I’m shouting, from the outside it seems like I’m saying something bad to my team-mates, but it’s the opposite way around. It’s the way I do it with the arms and everything. Sometimes I do it in a good way, but you see me waving my arms and you think it’s in a bad way.”
“When I think they did something wrong and they had a better option and they didn’t because they want to get their goal, or get their skill done…I will shout at them in a bad way because we have to do things for the team.”
“At the same time, if I see someone low on confidence and they miss a pass, miss a shot, miss a chance I will shout at them in an encouragement way.”
Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes, a Portuguese professional football player for Manchester United of the Premier League and the Portugal national team, was born on September 8, 1994.
He plays attacking midfield.
He is renowned for his ability to score goals, create plays, lead by example, take penalties, and work hard.
Originally from Maia, Porto, Fernandes began his professional career with Serie B club Novara before moving on to Serie A club Udinese in 2013 and then Sampdoria three years later.
Why Did Ronaldo Leave United?
Since his return in the summer of 2021, the Portuguese player has said that he has “no respect” for Ten Hag and that the club has “betrayed” him.
Ten Hag acknowledged seeing the Talk TV interview Ronaldo made to Piers Morgan. “I have seen most of it. I have to do it. It is part of my job to do it,” he said.
Ten Hag was astonished by Ronaldo’s openness in the interview because the player hadn’t previously indicated his desire to go.
“During the season there was no window but until that moment he never told me ‘I want to leave'”, Ten Hag claimed.
Ronaldo spent most of last summer looking for a new club, even though he never told Ten Hag he planned to leave the club in July 2022.
He was compelled to remain at Old Trafford, where he had a challenging start to the season, since no club in Europe made a move for him.
During most of United’s Premier League matches this season, Ten Hag moved Ronaldo to the bench.
After refusing to enter the field for the final three minutes of the match against Tottenham in October 2022, the club decided not to deploy him against Chelsea the following week.
Ronaldo, who turned 38 in February, hesitated to understand that United was improving without him, so he agreed to take part in a forced exit interview.
