There haven’t been many players more complete in an attacking sense at Manchester United than Bruno Fernandes, but even his game lacks a certain component.
Since arriving at Old Trafford in a time of turmoil, Bruno Fernandes has emerged as the club’s most reliable and high-performance individual.
Those efforts were recently rewarded with Fernandes’ contract extension which ties him to the club till 2027 with the club option of another year.
The United captain is now 29, so it’s unlikely that he would add many notable new skills to his repertoire, but if it was possible, a skill one of his teammates has would make him unstoppable, and he has identified it.
Bruno Fernandes picks one skill he wants from teammate
In an interaction with Sky Sports after the confirmation of his contract extension, Fernandes was asked which one of his teammates’ best skills he would like to have.
He was given four options- Lisandro Martinez‘s competitiveness, Rasmus Hojlund‘s strength, Marcus Rashford’s speed, or Alejandro Garnacho’s bicycle kick prowess.
Fernandes immediately dismissed the last one, sending a cheeky jibe in Garnacho’s direction to add to it!
He then said he wouldn’t like Martinez’s competitiveness because he’s plenty competitive himself and he’s not sure whether too much of it is good.
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From the remaining two options, he chose the speed of Rashford with an extremely interesting explanation behind the choice.
He said: “I think it’s something that as a player, when you have it, for example, I play with him and I know when you pass it’s just about him eating the grass. I know he’s always going to get it [the pass] even if sometimes it is a little bit strong.”
Fernandes said that along with Antony and Garnacho, Rashford is among the three fastest players at the club but Rashford is ahead of everyone else.
A speedy Fernandes would be unstoppable
Of course, it’s just a hypothetical exercise but considering how good Fernandes is at pretty much all facets of attacking play, getting explosive speed would make him unstoppable.
As it stands, speed and strength are the only two areas where he can improve, especially clear when he is stationed out on the wings to accommodate other players.
He makes up for it through sheer footballing intelligence and nous for a pass but if he had the ability to outpace a fullback and just dribble through a team instead of passing through them, he would be in conversation for one of the greatest players of this era.
Rashford, on the other hand, is a player with plenty of pace and explosiveness but lacks the creativity of Fernandes.
That’s just how football is and the variety of skill sets in a team should always combine to better the sum of its parts. It’s still a fun exercise to think about nonetheless!
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/wLBobqd