Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United gestures to team-mates in training
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United gestures to team-mates in training
Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United's players must adapt quickly to new boss Ruben Amorim's methods to turn their season around.
United's first game under Amorim ended in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich, with the new boss admitting his players were “over-thinking” as they tried to fit into the demands of his new system. Amorim has switched United's formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-3, a change many of his players struggled to get to grips at Ipswich, in terms of their positioning and when and how to press.
But Fernandes said United's players should be used to playing in different systems, which many do for their national teams, and said they all need to be open to the new ideas of Amorim and the coaching team he brought with him from Sporting Lisbon.
“You always have to adapt to different ideas, different positions,” said Fernandes. “Even sometimes playing in the same system, you have to adapt to different ideas of playing on the ball and off the ball, because the manager can ask different things.
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“So it’s not difficult for me to adapt in any position. I’m really aware of what we do in training and I try to absorb everything from every position. Obviously it’s not possible to get everything, but I try to have an idea of the game because - as the captain - sometimes the manager can't give the message from the bench to the pitch because of the noise or whatever.
“So you have to be able to try and solve the situation together with your team-mates, knowing, or having the knowledge of every position - the movements they do, what kind of pressure the manager wants us to do. That’s a little bit of my role.
“Our focus now is on what the future can bring and how we can get as soon as possible and as quickly as possible the new ideas of the new manager.”
Bruno Fernandes wants quick improvement from his team-mates
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Manchester United adapt to the new Ruben Amorim style? Comment below.
Fernandes, who joined United from Sporting in a £68million deal in 2020, revealed he had had a head-start over his team-mates because he was a regular watcher of his and Amorim's former team.
“I think it could probably be worse for the younger players,” said Fernandes. “I know very well what Sporting players were doing. I know exactly what they were doing in their positions.
“Not because I was reading what the manager was doing there, but because I was watching their games. We're international players, so when you go to your national team, you probably play in a different system.
“For example, when I go to the Portugal national team, sometimes we also play with a back three and sometimes I play as a No.10. Sometimes I play a little bit deeper. Sometimes I play a little bit wider.
“So already, in the national team, I have that experience of what the manager wants - in a formation with three at the back, but then you rotate and you end up playing different ways.
“You press them one way, you defend in another way and you attack in another way. You always have to move and in the national team we do that a lot, so I don’t think anyone's age should be a problem, older or younger.”
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