Manchester United picked up a 1-1 draw against Fulham in the Premier League yesterday.
The Red Devils were the better side versus Arsenal in the curtain-raiser earlier this month, but ended up on the losing side.
They were anticipated to carry the momentum into the Fulham game, but failed to capitalise with a disappointing stalemate.
Bruno Fernandes once again started in the centre of the park alongside Casemiro, and he had a game to forget at Craven Cottage.
The Portuguese squandered a penalty in the opening half and was also guilty of losing possession regularly during the game.
The United captain was dispossessed on 11 occasions. He was unlike himself with a long ball accuracy of just 38 percent.
Fernandes also failed to track the run of Emile Smith Rowe, who scored just moments after coming off the bench for Fulham.
It was a miserable evening for the United skipper, and questions need to be raised about Ruben Amorim’s plans for him.
Fernandes has been hugely successful in his United career, operating from the number 10 position with lesser defensive duties.
He has won plenty of duels since moving to the number eight role, but his positional awareness has been a worrying factor.
Being an attack-minded player, the 30-year-old has often found himself higher up the field, thus leaving space for the opposition to exploit.
With the summer arrivals of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, Amorim has probably created a fresh problem in handling Fernandes.
The manager could play Cunha or Mbeumo up top to enable Fernandes to start in the number 10 position, but that has not happened thus far.
Amorim has preferred Mason Mount alongside them. We could see Benjamin Sesko become a regular starter upfront when he is up to full speed.
Hence, Fernandes will have to adapt to a central midfield role going forward, but the question is whether Amorim will drop the £43 million-rated star if required.
Kobbie Mainoo has been an unused substitute in the first two league games, and Amorim has highlighted that he is competing with the captain for a place.
It will be interesting to see how Amorim handles the situation as the season progresses.
Stats from Sofascore.com & Transfermarkt.com