Bruno Fernandes is proving to be a fantastic signing for Manchester United, with his arrival making all the difference in our qualification for the Champions League and starting this season making a great contribution with goals. In seven appearances in the league he’s scored five and assisted three.
Speaking to the UTD Podcast, Fernandes has spoken about his aspirations behind his decision to join United.
I always say the same thing – for me, to come to a club like Manchester United is the same as why I went to Sporting, it was to win trophies. I come to Manchester with the same mentality. For me, it doesn’t matter about the other teams, people may say they are better than us, they have a better first XI than us, the guys who come from the bench are better… people can say what they think, I don’t care. For me, I came to Manchester to win trophies. You are playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. This club has made history in the past – an amazing history. For a club like Manchester United, it’s a long time since we won the Premier League. It’s too long, I think. So you have to have in your mind – all the players, all the staff – we are here to win. And I think we have that mentality.
It’s no surprise to hear that Fernandes is a perfectionist when it comes to his performances. He has discussed his post-match routine, which involves him analysing all his contributions to the match.
Normally when I finish a game, I come home and it’s difficult to sleep because of all the energy and also all the caffeine you take before the game to give you energy, all the Red Bulls you drink, and so it’s difficult to calm down, so I come back home and start watching the game. Looking at the points I did well, looking at the points I did bad or I need to improve. I like to see the analysis and then I’ll see how many passes I missed, how many balls I recovered, how many long passes I made and how many were good and how many were wrong I like to watch all those kind of details because I think details can make all the difference in football.
Michael Carrick joined United’s coaching staff after retiring in the summer of 2018 and Fernandes has spoken about the importance of learning from people like him.
Today I was watching in training and Carrick was playing – maybe there was one player less, and some of the players in the last first XI are in recovery – and I was watching Carrick, and he didn’t miss a pass. It’s unbelievable how fresh and sharp he is doing the exercises with us, and I was talking with Fred and I was going to say to him, ‘Hey, watch him playing and do the same!’ but I thought it was unfair and so I didn’t say it! But it was amazing – if someone from outside come to watch training, nobody would say this guy isn’t playing in the team. He’s a player who has that quality of passes and also when we need to do some finishing or passing exercises, he’s always there helping us with the balls. I’m learning a lot from him and he’s one of the people I like to listen to, because he was a big player, he won a lot of trophies for the club and for me you have to learn from these players. Moutinho and Carrick, they are the sort of players from whom you can learn how to be smart in the game, how to be clever. Maybe they’re not the sort of players that kids will watch and say, I want to be like Michael Carrick, but when you have one in the team, you know that guy will never miss a pass, you know he will do the smart pass, most of the times will make the right decision, and you need these kinds of players.
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