Does Manchester United Have A Bruno Fernandes Problem?

Following its defeat in the Manchester derby against rivals City last weekend, focus has turned even more intensely the woes of Manchester United and its manager Erik ten Hag.

The club’s poor start to the season in both the Premier League and the Champions League has led to criticism of the manager and players, while the Glazer family’s ownership of the club remains an issue.

As Manchester United captain, Bruno Fernandes has been one of the players on whom the spotlight has fallen as the team is going through a poor run of results.

His captaincy has been questioned, as have some of his performances, but he remains the player most likely to make things happen in this United side.

Fernandes is regularly at the top of the lists of players when looking at attacking and creating output in the Premier League.

According to the statistics website FBref, Fernandes is third in the league for expected assisted goals, on 3.7 behind only Kieran Trippier of Newcastle (3.9) and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (4.6) in the 2023/24 Premier League so far.

This statistic is a good measurement of the quality and/or number of chances a player is creating for teammates.

Fernandes led the league for this stat last season, finishing the campaign with an expected assisted goals score of 16.7, well ahead of second-placed Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City (13.7).

He is sixth for expected assisted goals plus non-penalty expected goals (xG) in the current league season. Only Salah and Erling Haaland were ahead of him for this stat in 2022/23.

Meanwhile, only the much-lauded Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder James Maddison has more shot-creating actions (78) than Fernandes’s 52, and last season the United man led the league by some distance for this stat, with 219.

Statistically, Fernandes remains one of the most creative players in the league. A player who makes things happen in attack, or at least tries to.

In a top-performing, well-organised and functional team, he would be a standout player, contributing to success, and would be considered one of the best around. But Manchester United is rarely such a team.

One issue at United is the lack of support for Fernandes.

Only Marcus Rashford is anywhere near the Portuguese on any of these statistical measurements, and even he is lagging some way behind on everything except xG, which isn’t too surprising given Rashford is a forward and will be shooting more and from closer to goal.

Rashford has 41 shot-creating actions to Fernandes’s 52, but the next player behind those two is Diogo Dalot on just 18.

Rashford is next in line when it comes to expected assisted goals on 1.3, but that is way off Fernandes’s 3.7.

Fernandes has added responsibility in the team as its captain. It is debatable that he is suitable for the role given how frustrated he can often appear on the field if things aren’t going his or his side’s way.

It can cross the line from high work rate and determination to win, to frustration and petulance.

Maybe the creative burden was already enough for Fernandes to take on, and he didn’t need the extra responsibility of leading the team in other ways.

In truth he needs help in both roles. Other midfielders or full-backs in the United setup need to contribute to the creativity in attack, and Ten Hag needs to facilitate this.

If Fernandes has an off-game, is struggling, or is being marked out of a game by opponents, who steps up for United then?

No one so far. Scott McTominay has arguably come closest, while new signing Mason Mount, who might be earmarked for such a role, has had a quiet start to life at Old Trafford.

Fernandes will naturally create wherever he is on the pitch, such is his technique, eye for a pass, and ability to deliver from crosses and set pieces.

So maybe Ten Hag needs to place another player in a position of creative responsibility. But the question then is who? And the answer isn’t obvious.

Maybe it’s Christian Eriksen, but the Dane himself has not been consistent this season and can be easily bypassed defensively. Maybe Mount will start to get more chances to show why United signed him from Chelsea this summer.

Whatever the solution at United, Fernandes is not really the problem. Maybe how he’s used in the system sometimes is, and maybe the decision to make him captain was the wrong one, but he would be very much part of any solution.

To fix the current issues, Ten Hag needs to make sure he can get the most from Fernandes’s creative talents by also making sure other players are positioned, both tactically and in terms of quality and preparation, to finish the chances the Portuguese creates, and also create some of their own.

Then we might start to see those underlying numbers turn into goals and wins for Manchester United.