Solskjaer defends Fernandes after Man Utd star's Liverpool display

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The Portugal international put in a poor performance, by his high standards, at Anfield over the weekend and his manager has come to his defence

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended Bruno Fernandes' performance against Liverpool and suggested Manchester United's star man will not be getting a rest any time soon as he is not tired.

The Portugal international but in a below-par performance at Anfield at the weekend and looked unhappy when he was brought off in the 89th minute and replaced by Mason Greenwood.

Fernandes has started 24 of United’s 29 games in all competitions this season and there is no suggestion from Solskjaer that he will be resting the playmaker, despite being heavily criticised for his display in the 0-0 draw at Liverpool.

“His form is very good, he was just voted Player of the Month,” Solskjaer explained. “He’s not tired, no, no chance. He is one of the players that runs and covers the ground in every single game, he’s very good at recovering and recharging his batteries.

“If he scored his free kick or if it just had a little air on the ball when Luke [Shaw] put the cross in he'd have been lauded as the best player in Premier League again. Since he’s come in, he's been absolutely immense. He’s not tired and if I ask him he'll say there's absolutely no chance that 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 were a couple of passes that he played through and it was marginal as to whether the player was on or off[side].

“So he’s always on the verge of creating something, even when he loses the ball, and that's the position I want him in and that’s what he's been told to do. He has to be the creative one. I want him to play the passes he sees.”

In terms of creativity United have managed just two goals in the last four games, with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial struggling to finish their chances, while Greenwood has barely had a look in.

But, Solskjaer has no worries about his side’s goalscoring credentials as they prepare to face Fulham in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

“I think this season we've scored more goals and created more chances than before. I think it's a matter of time until those margins that we felt were against us against Liverpool go our way again,” Solskjaer said.

“We have players there who can do individual bits but the team is gelling better, relationships are working better. The foundation will always be the hard work and the shape and at Man Utd we are expected to create chances from everywhere and we have players to do that.”

2021-01-19 18:00:05

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