You know things are going pretty bad when for the first time in his entire career, Bruno Fernandes gets sent for an early bath.
It just about summed up the opening month and a bit of the new season for Manchester United, who surprise surprise, are getting no better under Erik ten Hag.
INEOS kept the faith with the Dutchman over the summer but they are yet to be vindicated by that decision with the Red Devils sat in 12th place with a goal difference of minus three. It’s grim reading for what is a historic institution. We dread to think what Sir Alex Ferguson makes of it all.
What supporters would give to see the glory days of Fergie brought back to Old Trafford. Sadly, they are some way off rediscovering that level of performance.
It’s a chaotic mess and Ten Hag doesn’t seem to be able to find a remedy to drag them from what feels like rock bottom. They will have to navigate the next few weeks without their captain too.
Bruno Fernandes' season in numbers
The Portuguese has been a wonderful servant to this great football club. During his time in Manchester to date, Fernandes has scored an impressive 79 goals and supplied 70 assists. He has been a marvel in the red shirt.
Sadly, this season his performance levels have dropped. The 30-year-old is yet to find the net and has only registered three assists in all competitions, only one of which has come in the Premier League.
To make matters worse, he was given a red card in the dismal 3-0 defeat to Spurs on Sunday, slipping and catching James Maddison with his studs. It was a harsh sending off but it ultimately summed up his lack of influence so far this term.
In the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace last weekend he gave the ball away a staggering 34 times and failed to hit a single shot on target. It didn’t get much better in their Europa League clash with FC Twente either where the Portugal international created just one goal-scoring chance, lost possession 19 times and completed just 75% of his passes.
Touches
113
Passes completed
60/83
Pass accuracy
72%
Number of times possession lost
34
Ground duels won
7/9
Tackles won
4/4
Key passes
2
Sunday’s awful display, meanwhile, saw a pass completion rate of just 74% while he didn’t win a single duel either.
It might not be the worst idea for him to sit out the next few games, then. He will be suspended for three matches which gives the likes of Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen a chance to prove themselves.
They could also look at bringing in some more young players like Toby Collyer and Dan Gore. However, they are not of a similar ilk. Isak Hansen-Aaroen is, however, but he’s already left the club.
What happened to Isak Hansen-Aaroen
It’s unlikely that the decision-makers at United will be losing too much sleep over seeing the Norwegian walk away last January.
Hansen-Aaroen wanted game time, he wanted first-team football and the Red Devils could not deliver that. So, he was off on his merry way to Werder Bremen in Germany, signing for a fee of around just £200k.
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Why is this a loss? Well, Hansen-Aaroen would be a pretty handy replacement for Fernandes in the here and now. He wouldn’t do any worse than the current crop, that’s for sure.
After all, his playmaking abilities have already been compared to a fellow countryman and one of the finest in the Premier League.
A former teammate of his at Tromso, Yttergård Jenssen, is one name who has rushed to praise the youngster. “He has some skills that are completely raw. He’s so playful with the ball. And the way he moves on a football field… There’s something artistic about it. He is a bit reminiscent of Martin Ødegaard.”
Fine praise indeed for a player who is still only 20. The young Norwegian has featured just three times for Bremen since moving but his numbers at youth level speak for themselves.
He left Carrington having registered ten official assists at youth level alongside eight goals. They’re not jaw-dropping numbers by any means but the fact he’s left and immediately playing senior team football in a major European league suggests he’d have something to offer this current United side.
Sadly, they will never quite know whether he’d have made the grade or not at Old Trafford.
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