Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley believes that Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes doesn’t understand the role being asked of him by Ruben Amorim.
Fernandes was a bright spark in what proved an otherwise torturous season for the Red Devils under Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.
The Portuguese international notched up an impressive 19 goals and 19 assists in all competitions despite his side’s struggles on most fronts.
However, after the club’s latest rebuild over the summer, Fernandes has found himself deployed in a different midfield role this season.
Nominally an attacking midfielder, the 31-year-old is now being asked to play further back in the midfield two of Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation, with summer signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo preferred in more advanced areas.
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Fernandes has played in a deeper midfield role for both club and country at times during his career, but Burley believes that Amorim is wasting the United skipper’s talents by constantly starting him in that role.
‘They have got no legs in midfield, we’ve talked about this with Casemiro and Ugarte,’ Burley told ESPN.
‘Bruno Fernandes is playing there, but it’s not his position.
‘He doesn’t understand the defensive aspects and the positional aspects of being a deeper-lying midfielder.
‘And it also negates, which we’ve talked about at length, his ability to influence 30 yards further up the field.’
Asked over the international break about his role in Amorim’s United side, Fernandes said: ‘I love playing football, whatever the position.
‘They can put me at full-back, winger, goalkeeper. I’ll always give my best.
‘Everyone has their preferences, but we have to adapt to the coach’s ideas.’
Meanwhile, former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves is in agreement with Burley’s assessment and urged Amorim to re-jig his side to get the best out of Fernandes.
‘He’s not playing his natural position, he’s playing deeper,’ Hargeaves told TNT Sports earlier this month.
‘He’s playing as a box-to-box midfielder. Bruno’s one of the best creators in the division. So you’ve got to play him in his natural position.
‘But because they play two 10s, you could argue Man Utd’s two best players last season were Amad [Diallo] and Bruno.
‘They were the two 10s, and then they went and signed two more 10s in Cunha and Mbeumo when you didn’t have a keeper or a striker.
‘I’d love to see Bruno play as a 10, maybe with Mbeumo as a No. 9. If you have Cunha and Bruno playing as two 10s plus Mbeumo, that’s good.’
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