Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes admits he is frustrated with his team-mates after their latest dire performance led to a 4-1 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday. The Red Devils conceded three second half goals as they were blown away by their hosts, who are targeting a top five finish.
United, meanwhile, remain down in 14th place in the table, and the defeat ensures that this season will end up as the Premier League campaign in which they’ve registered the fewest points, with a total of 56 now possible.
Sandro Tonali scored Newcastle’s opener in the first half after a fine Alexander Isak pass, but after Alejandro Garnacho equalised before the break the visitors collapsed in the second half. Harvey Barnes scored twice for the Magpies, with Bruno Guimaraes rounding off the scoring after an error from goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
The Turkish international had been brought into the side for the dropped Andre Onana, but manager Ruben Amorim didn’t oversee a change i fortune as United slipped to one of their worst results of the season.
Fernandes told Sky Sports: “My team-mates – I only get frustrated with them because I know how good they can be. I know how tough it is to represent this club. They want so much to give to the club, to win because they know how much they will be remembered if they win something with this club.
“On Thursday [against Lyon in Europa League quarter-final] we go forward, we create a big atmosphere in our stadium, we need to be on the front foot and give everything we have because we want to get to the semi-final.
“In tough moments we have done great performances against the biggest clubs. In decisive games when everyone is watching. We are Man United, we have to step up and do everyting to win the game.”
Fernandes then refused to go into the specifics of the defeat, adding: “There’s not much to assess, we lost the game. In the first half we did good, in the second half we couldn’t keep up the way we wanted to play.
“We know that it’s been a tough season, nothing to add to that. Our position in the table is not where this club belongs, but unfortunately we are not getting the results. We need to look forward as we have a big game coming up, we need to clear our heads and go for it.
“We are in this position because we have not been consistent in the performances we put out. We lack being more fearless, being more brave. Today was not the case because we ended up conceding goals by trying to be brave.
“It’s easy to criticise because this club has never suffered like this, so it’s normal. You have to be aware you play for United and criticism will be there.
“Our fans have been there all season during bad moments, today they were there at the end trying to cheer us up. Its time we give something back.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
