Erik ten Hag has heralded the ‘great leadership’ of Bruno Fernandes in his decision to allow Marcus Rashford to step up and score from the spot against Everton on Sunday – and named it was ‘one of the examples’ why the Portugal international is captain.
Manchester United travel to Galatasaray on Tuesday in a bid to rescue their turbulent Champions League hopes at the atmospheric RAMS Park, but will do so with greater confidence following their decisive victory at Goodison Park over the weekend.
Rashford – who finished United’s last campaign on a titanic 30 goals across all competitions – broke his eight-game drought by netting just after half-time when given the nod by his captain.
After the final whistle, Fernandes said that he had done so in a bid to ‘boost’ his confidence.
Despite attracting cricitism from former Red Devil Roy Keane on punditry duties, who said that Ten Hag’s earlier praise of the move was ‘absolute bloody rubbish’, both the midfielder and his manager doubled down on their comments ahead of their European clash on Wednesday.
Erik ten Hag praised the ‘great leadership’ of his captain Bruno Fernandes in the wake of United’s win against Everton on Sunday
The Portugal international handed over penalty taking duties to Rashford in the second-half
The England star had previously gone eight Premier League matches without scoring a goal
Fernandes said that the decision to hand the penalty to his team-mate was ‘in the moment’, adding: ‘He is important for us. For strikers it is about getting the first goal. We need our strikers to have the confidence to score them’.
The Carabao Cup winner added that he didn’t think he was doing something out of the ordinary as he explained Man United’s process for who takes the penalties on matchday.
‘We have a list of penalty-takers and we have numbers,’ Fernandes explained. ‘When I arrived at the club, Marcus was the penalty-taker. (After Rashford was injured and Fernandes became the regular taker) he was always respectful, saying “you’re doing well, keep going”.’
On Sunday, the two names tipped for penalty action were Rashford and Fernandes.
‘We are never 100 per cent chance, it’s a 50 per cent chance,’ Fernandes added. ‘I could have taken the penalty and missed, we will never know!’
But whilst Ten Hag was quick to stress that the chance of Fernandes scoring from the spot was much higher, he hailed the decision made by his captain.
‘It’s great leadership, if you know your team-mate needs that goal,’ Ten Hag added.
‘It is one of the examples (why Fernandes is captain), yes’.
Fernandes’ captaincy has received some criticism since he was handed the armband but the player claimed that he was able to tune out the noise and that little had changed since his appointment.
‘I have to deal with that. I understand that the tough part is always coming after the first games, when results and performances aren’t always as they should be. I know my numbers when I came made me a target.
Fernandes stressed that he does not focus on criciticism of his captaincy and instead on his team and the club’s staff
‘My focus is on the team, on the staff, on those who work with me day-by-day. The way I am it has not changed by being the captain. I am really open with everyone. I have to keep the same way.’
Ten Hag will hope his captain shows great leadership and a cool head in a bid to climb up the ranks of Group A against the background of an enflamed stadium in Istanbul.
The Dutch manager’s side lost the reverse fixture when the Turkish Super Lig side travelled to Old Trafford in October after the visitors took advantage of Casemiro‘s second-half sending off and Mauro Icardi netted a late winner.
United have had a torrid European this season, recording defeats to Galatasaray, Bayern Munich, and Copenhagen away, and the side currently sit rock-bottom of their group.
