Amid the chaos and turbulence of last season, 36-year-old goalkeeper Joe Lewis spent the last six months of the previous campaign at Carrington.
He was training with the Manchester United squad as they tried to salvage a rapidly derailing season that was somehow saved with the FA Cup win in the final game of the season.
As always, when Manchester United are involved, the stories are hot and Lewis has now revealed the happenings behind the scenes at Carrington, including the player who’s the “hardest worker” he’s ever seen.
Joe Lewis on Manchester United’s hardest worker
In an interview with Manchester Evening News, Lewis spilled the beans on the atmosphere at Carrington last season and the qualities of players who surprised him.
It included the player who stood out in every training session, and also the player whose technique he found ‘unbelievable’, who was the “hardest worker” he’s ever seen.
If any United fan was asked to guess who that player is, most would probably get it right as sometimes, the most predictable answer is the right one.
It is Bruno Fernandes in this case, who Lewis waxed lyrical about in the interview, from his leadership skills to technical prowess, Fernandes stood out to Lewis.
He said about Fernandes: “He’d lead by example in training and he’s just a really good guy. He’d spend time with me, someone he didn’t know, who was just a training goalkeeper, and we’d sit down at lunchtime.
“Bruno didn’t need to do that with me, but he’s a really good leader and an incredibly talented player. He has a wand of a right foot and has unbelievable technique.
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever seen and there’s loads of hard workers at United. Every day, he works on shooting, his first touch and he’s out there training longer than any player at the club.”
Bruno Fernandes is the benchmark
If it wasn’t clear already, Joe Lewis’ comments hammer home the point that is already pretty much a fact at this point- Bruno Fernandes is the model professional.
Fernandes’ contract extension which brings him in line with the top earners at the club was a sign by Ineos that they have set a benchmark of what they expect from United players now.
The Portuguese’s qualities on the ball, as world-class as they are, are arguably the least impressive thing about him.
Intangibles like commitment, determination, and willingness to go the extra mile for the team are what separate him from the rest of the pack and the rest of the team should work towards achieving.
If the player who has the most goal contributions for United since his arrival trains longer than every other player, then there’s no excuse for those not up to the standard to slack off.
That’s the cultural reset the new United era has to work towards and for that, Bruno Fernandes is the benchmark.
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