3
Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, has launched a scathing attack on social media critiques of Bruno Fernandes and Nottingham Forest players’ treatment of the United captain.
The United man was considered a major doubt for the match after picking up a knock in the latter stages of the Fulham game on Saturday.
However, as he always seems to do, he found a way to be fit for his team. He thereby protected his record of only ever missing one game for United due to injury or illness.
Despite another average display, the midfielder delivered in a key moment for his side when he provided the assist for Casemiro’s winner in the 89th minute of action, which gave the Red Devils their 1-0 win, which sees them face Liverpool in the quarter finals in a couple of weeks.
Speaking after the victory in his post-match conference (via the BBC), Ten Hag slammed the treatment of his captain.
“You saw that Forest were targetting him,” said Ten Hag. “There were many fouls on him and you see when he is getting the ball, they are really tight on him.”
To add credence to what the manager was saying, a video was released on social media shortly after the game, of Bruno Fernandes heavily limping away from the ground.
Fernandes limping as he left the ground. Was a doubt with a knock but played the full game. Would still expect him to start Sunday. Still never missed a game for #mufc through injury. pic.twitter.com/eIw9VaRFGq
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) February 28, 2024
The under-fire coach also branded the club captain’s critics as “pathetic” and defended his player against accusations of play acting.
The Daily Mirror reported a few days ago that the Portugal international had been blasted for his apparent feigning of injury during the match on Saturday afternoon.
However, Ten Hag took exception to this and stated, “I see social media criticising him. It is pathetic. He had a serious injury but he continued to play on Saturday and then also he fought to be part of this game”.
“He has a very high pain threshold and last year, he did something similar against Spurs and I think in the semi-final (against Brighton). It shows his leadership.”
The Forest manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, predictably had another side of the story.
“I don’t think so,” said Nuno, when asked if his team had targeted Fernandes. “I didn’t see what Erik saw.
“He (Fernandes) is a very good player. He needs to be controlled. We did that in a fair way.”
Ten Hag will be sweating on the fitness of his key man as, within the next seventeen days, United travel to Manchester City, host Everton in the league and then welcome their bitter rivals from Anfield to Old Trafford for what has the makings of an FA Cup classic.
This website aggregates and curates news articles, blog posts, and other content from a variety of external sources. While we aim to link back to the original source, this site does not own or claim ownership of any articles, posts, or other content indexed on this site. The views, opinions, and factual statements expressed in each piece of aggregated content belong solely to its respective author and publisher. We make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of aggregated content. Visitors are advised to verify facts and claims through the original source before reuse or redistribution.
