Bruno Fernandes speaking after Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes speaking after Viktoria Plzen vs Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United have too many problems of their own to think about Manchester City's crisis ahead of Sunday's derby.
Both sides head into the derby showdown at the Etihad Stadium in poor form, with City having lost eight of their last 10 games in all competitions. Pep Guardiola's struggling champions are down in fourth place, eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool, while Ruben Amorim's United are languishing in 13th position.
Against that backdrop, United skipper Fernandes said Amorim's players must focus on improving themselves, rather than taking encouragement from City's demise.
“It doesn't change anything for us, how they are at this moment, because we have to think about ourselves,” said Fernandes. “We all know that this is a huge game and they have huge players, although they're probably not winning as much as everyone would expect them to do.
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“But we have to focus on ourselves, because we've also not been at the level we want to be, so we can't think about the momentum of the others. We just have to think about ourselves and do the job we have to do to get in a better position. We need points in the league, so it doesn't matter who we play against.
“We know it's a City, a huge derby. We know what it means for the fans and it means a lot for us too, so we just have to go to the game and win without thinking who we have ahead. We have to think game by game. Our focus has to be always on the next game and our full focus from now on is going to be on City. Then we have time to think about the rest, because another three points is what we need in the Premier League and that's all.”
Under Amorim, United have won three, lost two and drawn one game, with Fernandes admitting they must put together a run of victories to climb the table – starting at City.
“We have to try to win games,” said Fernandes. “That’s what we want to improve. Obviously we play City and we want to win, but it doesn't matter if it was another game, we would try to win in the same way. We know they have great players. It doesn't matter the momentum they are in. We have to think about ourselves, what we can do to hurt them to win the game and that's all.
“You always make progress and then you can see that in the results. Obviously we want to get results and I think, for the outside world, the results are the ones that show if you improve or not. But we have to think about what we want to do as a team, what we want to have as a system, the impact that we want to have in games, the way we want to play, and that has to be the main thing in our minds. But obviously we play for a club that has to win every game.”
With five goals and 10 assists this season, Fernandes remains United's most effective player, and said he is comfortable with being the team's chief creator.
“Everyone has to create goals, not only me, but I know that is one of the main qualities I have. I have to accept that and understand that everyone expects that from me. When I say everyone, that's everyone in the dressing-room, not everyone from the outside world, and I'm there to help my team-mates to score goals.”
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