There was more bad news before the kick-off of Manchester United’s home game with Tottenham when it emerged Bruno Fernandes was ill and could not play. As it turned out, United did not need him.
Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up and delivered his best performance of the season to lead United to a 3-2 win.
The fact he did this without Fernandes brings up the big question mark of whether the two players are effective enough together, or actually better without one another.
Well we saw Fernandes without Ronaldo last week against City and it was not pretty, with United outclassed and lacking a focal point. Perhaps against another opponent the result may have been different – after all, they were ineffective together versus City at Old Trafford too earlier in the season.
Fernandes still key
Ronaldo may have succeeded in this game without Fernandes, but don’t get swept up in the belief he scored his hat-trick because Fernandes was not playing.
Fernandes was replaced by Paul Pogba, making a long awaited appearance in a forward role. It wasn’t worth the wait.
Pogba failed to create a single goalscoring chance, and completed just 77 per cent of his passes. Part of the criticism of Fernandes’ play is his high-risk game which sees him give the ball away more than is ideal.
But at least when Fernandes does this, he creates chances. FBRef report Fernandes has made 77 key passes this season, more than any Premier League player.
As a team, United created only nine chances against Tottenham. Fortunately Ronaldo was in the mood to score three of them.
Compare this to the recent goalless draw with Watford in which United created 22 chances, with Fernandes playing. The team were far more wasteful – but this does not suddenly mean Fernandes is a problem.
Some of Ronaldo’s goals this season have come via a Fernandes assist, going back to the sensational backheel away at Atalanta, the pass against Young Boys, and the previous win over Tottenham in November.
Fernandes’ superb pass across the box set up Ronaldo for a volley to kick off a 3-0 win, which further underlines that there is not really an argument to be made to say this latest win happened due to Fernandes being out. It likely would have happened anyway, and may even have been smoother.
Is there room for improvement in the Fernandes to Ronaldo connection? Sure. Some of the reason for it’s lack of production has been down to Ronaldo’s poor finishing lately rather than their failure to find each other. Take the game against Brighton for instance when Ronaldo scored – he could have had a couple more from Fernandes passes that night, had he finished these chances which were easier than the one he did net.
United hope Fernandes will be back for Tuesday’s game against Atletico, and there is no question he should come straight back into the side.
Pogba could have made it a tough choice, but didn’t do enough. United were brilliant against Spurs, and so was Ronaldo, but don’t get it twisted by anybody with an agenda – Ronaldo was excellent because he chose to be, and because true greatness can only stay down for so long. Not because Bruno Fernandes was sitting at home.
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