Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes has been indisputably one of the best players in the Premier League since his arrival at the club last year from Sporting Lisbon.
With an impressive tally of 34 goals and 21 assists in just 62 appearances across all competitions, the Portugal international is currently the club’s top scorer this season, only trailing behind Mohamed Salah for the Premier League Golden Boot. If he succeeds in usurping the Reds’ striker for the award, Fernandes will become the first midfielder to win the prestigious award. That notwithstanding, he is also the bookies’ favourite to win this season’s PFA Player of the Year award.
However, one man’s meat being another man’s poison, critics have not taken kindly to his lack of impact against the traditional top six in English football, having scored just two goals scored across eight games against Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in all competitions this season.
Speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Metro), Fernandes has retaliated against his critics for their selective dismissal of his performances.
“I don’t know what people mean by ‘top six’, because the teams are in top six in the table.”
Fernandes’ strikes against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have both come from setpieces, with the former being a penalty while the latter a free-kick.
The Portuguese midfielder is miffed that his performances do not get the respect they deserve.
“I score and assist against some of them. I score this season against Tottenham. But some people say penalties don’t count.”
The United star does not believe in reserving his best for the big six, believing instead that he treats all the games with the same urgency. To him, it doesn’t make much sense to beat the top teams while struggling against the rest.
“I think the league is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. So you don’t have to score or win against the big six – you have to score and win against everyone.”
Fernandes is also of the mindset that selective focus on certain stats tends to paint an incomplete picture. The midfielder assures he will continue to give his best in each United game.
“They don’t care about the performance of Bruno, they don’t care about ball recovery or how many chances I create, because I can create 10 chances but if I don’t score, people will say Bruno didn’t play very well.”
Credit: Football Tribe Malaysia
