Solskjaer denies Fernandes is exhausted and needs a break
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer dismissed suggestions that Bruno Fernandes is tired and needs a break following the Manchester United star’s ineffective display against Liverpool.
The 26-year-old hit the ground running after arriving from Sporting Lisbon last January, scoring 19 goals and providing 14 assists in just 32 Premier League appearances.
Fernandes’ Player of the Month award for December was a record-breaking fourth of the year, yet the midfielder has failed to scale the same heights in the opening weeks of 2021.
The playmaker was below parinSunday’s0-0drawatLiverpool–somethingpointedout by former United skipper Roy Keane – but Solskjaer does not believe the frantic festive schedule has taken its toll on the Portuguese.
“His form is very good,” the United boss said. “He was just votedPlayeroftheMonth.He’s not tired, no. No chance.
“Heisoneoftheplayerswho runs and covers the ground in every single game. Very good at recovering, very good at recharging his batteries.
“If he’d scored his free-kick or just had a little air on the ball when Luke (Shaw) put the cross in, he would have been lauded as the best player in the Premier League again.
“Since he’s come in, he’s been absolutely immense. No, he’s not tired. If I ask him there’s absolutely no chance he’ll say he’s tired.
“He’s expected to create goals, score goals and sometimes the margins are against him.
“That free-kick, I saw that one in! There was a couple of passes that he plays through and it’s just marginal as to whether the player was on or off.
“So he’s always on the verge of creating something, even when he loses the ball, and
that’s the position I want him inandthat’swhathe’sbeentold to do. He has to be the creative one.Iwanthimtoplaythepasses he sees.”
Fernandes could well play a key role for United tonight as Solskjaer leads his table-toppingsidetoimprovingFulham, with the Norwegian waiting to see if there are any unwanted surprises regarding his options.
“Well, we’ve not got test results from Covid yet and that’s almost 30 hours ago since we didthetesting,sohopefullywe get them soon,” Solskjaer said.
“Everyone trained more or less. Brandon (Williams) and Phil Jones didn’t train and the rest were on the pitch.”
United’sabilitytorotateand maintain fitness during such a frantic period has been key to their recent rise.
Solskjaer has underlined theimportanceofmaintaining that advantageous strength in depththismonth,meaningthe Norwegianwillhavetobecareful when deciding who can followTimothyFosu-Mensahout of the club.
Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero have been told they can leave ahead of their contracts expiring in the summer,whilethereisspeculation about the likes of Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
Asked if the latter would stillbeatOldTraffordcomethe endofJanuary,hesaid:“Well,I don’t want to go into individuals but we can probably allow maybe one or two more to go out.
“But then one of the strengths we have is that we have had a fit and deep squad. Strength in depth.”