It takes work to be spot on: Fernandes
Portuguese highlights Sterling struggles as proof of a tough skill
BRUNO Fernandes pays no attention to complaints about the number of penalties he has scored for Manchester United and believes Raheem Sterling’s struggles from the spot show that it is an important skill.
Fernandes has scored 15 penalties since arriving at Old Trafford this time last year, while five in the Premier League this season have helped to guide United to the top of the table ahead of a trip to reigning champions Liverpool tomorrow.
Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, drew attention to Fernandes’ number of spot-kicks last week, claiming United had won more penalties in two years than his players had in five and a half.
Klopp’s numbers were slightly out — Liverpool have been awarded 46 penalties during his 290 games in charge, while United have won 42 since Solskjaer’s appointment in December 2018 — but United’s rate of winning penalties is far higher.
Fernandes insists that he does not let the complaints of rival managers, players and fans affect him though, and believes that penalty-taking is simply a part of football that must be mastered like any other.
“I don’t hear (them)! I don’t care, honestly. You always see what people say but I really don’t care. I’m not focused on what they are saying,” he said.
“I played in Portugal, and when you play for Sporting, Benfica and Porto are always talking about that kind of stuff — sometimes to put pressure on the referee, sometimes just to make some noise in the press. But, for me, the main point is when we have a penalty, if I go to take the ball to the penalty spot, I have to do my job.”
Fernandes also drew a comparison with Sterling, who missed a late penalty in Manchester City’s 1-0 win against Brighton on Wednesday night — his third consecutive failure from the spot for City.
“One thing I saw in the news the other day was that Raheem Sterling has missed his last three penalties,” Fernandes said. “So, yes, it shows it’s not as easy to take a penalty as people say. You have to work on that, you have to be focused, you have to do your job. It’s clear like that.
“It does not mean Raheem Sterling is not a good penalty taker because he missed three in a row. It can happen. It could maybe happen to me, but the important thing is to score and not to listen to what people say because penalties are part of the game, for everyone.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has always attributed United’s knack for penalty-winning to their abundance of fleet-footed attacking players like Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, and that is an assessment which Fernandes agrees with.
“As Ole says, we have really quick players up front. Anthony is one of the best players one against one in the box, Marcus is another one who is quick and has quick feet who can take the ball away from the defender in any moment,” he said.
“It’s normal that sometimes because of that (they will be tripped) and will fall and they gain penalties.
“It is what it is. People can talk and say what they want. But, for me and the team, the main point is continuing to do the right things and when we get a penalty, just scoring.”
United know that if they can end Liverpool’s club-record run of 67 games unbeaten in the league at home, then they will move six points clear of Klopp’s side at the summit and a title challenge will be on.
It seemed unlikely that Solskjaer would be in this position this time last year, when a 2-0 defeat at Anfield left United 30 points adrift of the eventual champions after losing seven of their first 23 games.
Fernandes signed in an initial £47m deal from Sporting two weeks later and many believe the demanding, all-action attacking midfielder to be the catalyst for United’s improvement over the 12 months since, but the player himself believes it has been a team effort.
“It was not about me,” he said. “I have always been very demanding of myself but I came to a club that was very demanding. You play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, a club that has won everything, every trophy.
“I don’t think it was me changing the mindset of the club. If I changed the mindset of some players or my mindset helped some players to be better, maybe. But I don’t think it was me changing anything for the club
because playing for Manchester United means playing with the pressure, playing with the responsibility.
“You have to know you play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. So for me, my mindset has always been like that. I want to be better. I want to play better. I want to grow up. I think you can always learn every day, it doesn’t matter how good you are. You can always learn something.”