ALL BLACKS AN INSPIRATION TO JURGEN KLOPP
BRUNO Fernandes was back at Carrington on Wednesday, driving his Mini through the gates of Manchester United’s training ground and parking it among the fleet of luxury sports cars and 4x4s belonging to his teammates.
United’s talisman has had to rent a car because he has been unable to share a lift with his Portuguese compatriot Diogo Dalot since the coronavirus outbreak, but his choice of transport is telling.
The only time you will find Fernandes being flash is on a football pitch, as he demonstrated once again at Brighton on Tuesday night. Two goals – the second a textbook volley at the end of an exhilarating United breakaway – were the highlights of another Fernandes masterclass.
That’s six goals and four assists in all competitions for the 25-year-old midfielder since he joined United in January in a deal worth up to £67.8 million.
No other Premier League player has been involved in as many goals in that time.
If the season had started when United signed Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon on January 30, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side would be top.
When Fernandes touched down in Manchester on a private jet with his wife Ana, their young daughter Matilde and his representatives, Miguel
Pinho and Rui Guimaraes, he discovered a club experiencing more than a little turbulence.
The previous Premier League game had ended with a 2-0 defeat at home to Burnley on a night when fans turned on their own team and, in particular, Ed Woodward in a show of anger that would lead to a disgraceful attack on the home of United’s executive vice-chairperson 24 hours before Fernandes arrived.
A toxic atmosphere was nothing new to Fernandes. The previous season, his 32 goals and 18 assists for Sporting helped seal a domestic cup double and transformed the mood at the club after 50 fans armed with knives had attacked players at the training ground.
Now Fernandes has been the catalyst for an equally dramatic turnaround at United. No player has energised the club quite like this since Eric Cantona. In his 13 games, he has yet to taste defeat. But it is impossible to quantify what Fernandes has brought to United in stats alone. For that, you have to look at the character of the man.
“Bruno has been fantastic,” said Solskjaer on Tuesday night. “He has brought that winning mentality with him, that 99% is not good enough.”
It was evident on Fernandes’ first day at United when he completed his medical at Carrington and then insisted on going out to train, even though his new teammates weren’t in and it was his daughter’s third birthday.
It was noted among the players recently that one of their teammates hadn’t turned up for training. “Yes, and he wasn’t the only one!” Fernandes quipped, showing that his excellent grasp of the English language extends to sarcasm as well.
“He’s got a really dry sense of humour,” a club insider said. “He takes the mickey out of people but he’s such a positive character. When he talks, they listen. It was a bit quiet before but everyone seems so happy now and there has been a change in terms of confidence.”
On his debut against Wolves, he took more shots and played more passes than any other player on the pitch.
It had already been established that the new man wanted to take the setpieces, and penalties as well. Fernandes has welcomed the responsibility, scoring three times from the spot.
He has become a magnet for this United side and one who makes his teammates better by linking up the play.
While Paul Pogba looks every inch the superstar in his Rolls-Royce, Fernandes will stick with the Mini for now. With another baby on the way, however, he will have to upgrade soon. Thanks to him, everyone at United is thinking bigger these days. | Daily Mail
JURGEN Klopp has revealed the inspiration he has taken from the All Blacks to help make Liverpool title winners.
Liverpool’s manager has always tried to think in different ways to squeeze extra improvement from his team, such as appointing a throw-in coach to his technical staff in September 2018 and asking a world champion surfer to give a motivational talk to his squad last August.
Klopp’s respect for New Zealand’s all-conquering side dates back to 2001, when he had just started as a manager at Mainz. He watched a documentary and was so moved that he would have his players listen to the Haka before they left the dressing room.
Though he has not done that with Liverpool’s squad, Klopp has carried the ethos of the New Zealand team with him.
The All Blacks never reflect on achievements and challenge themselves to scale the next peak – and that has never been truer than now at Anfield.
“It’s the boys, it’s the focus, it’s the concentration level – it’s not thinking about the last game,” said Klopp. “It’s a mix of everything. It’s a desire to create history. That’s what we wanted.
“We feel in the middle of something, not the end of something. I’ve said it for a couple of years and it’s true. The end of something is when we finish our careers. That’s the end of this period of our lives. Until we finish our careers, we have to give everything.
“As long as you wear this shirt, less than 100% is not allowed. It’s not my phrase. It came from the All Blacks. I saw that in a documentary for the All Blacks and kept that for myself.
“I was impressed by these fellas and how they spoke. They were amateurs, maybe they got a bit of money, I don’t know. They worked as butchers, builders. These guys, these pretty impressive guys, just spoke about their past, what it meant to them to play for this team.
“That is for each LFC player and me the same. That is what we try to live.”
Klopp has not seen anything to suggest his squad have taken things easy since winning the Premier League last Thursday.
Training has been sharp. Liverpool and Manchester City have been miles ahead of the pack this season, but Klopp has been watching developments in another part of Manchester – and London – and knows there are other opponents on the horizon.
“You can see in this moment that United are coming up.” | Daily Mail