Manchester United assistant captain Bruno Fernandes has admitted the club’s dressing room has been lacking discipline before now. The player backed the new head coach Erik ten Hag to bring some authority back to the dressing room this season. United’s dressing room was split last season as the campaign unravelled under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick and the players were unable to halt the slide.
Bruno Fernandes Admits they were Issues in United Dressing Room
They recorded the club’s worst ever Premier League season and new coach Erik ten Hag has inherited a squad in desperate need of a lift, with pre-season results impressive so far. Ten Hag has brought an intense approach to training and has already shown the players who are boss, while he is also demanding discipline on and off the pitch.
Bruno Fernandes believes that is just what is needed this summer, having admitted standards have dropped at the club recently. According to Bruno Fernandes, he said:
“I think we missed that for a while, and I think, for me, the way I see discipline is important.” “For me, discipline is not only the way you play on the pitch, the position that you have, what you have to do, it’s also off the pitch don’t be late for the meetings, don’t be late for the meals.”
“I think that’s really important because if everyone is on time and someone comes late, he should be punished and I think that’s really good that he’s doing that and for me amazing because I like to be on time, so I won’t have problems with that.”
Ten Hag has had an immediate impact at United and the pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia has brought impressive results and clear strides forward on the pitch. The 3-1 win against Crystal Palace on Tuesday rounded off the Melbourne leg of the tour and made it three wins out of three. The goals from Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were all impressive and you can see the tactical structures Ten Hag is introducing taking shape.
The Portuguese star also said:
“It’s the way he wants to play, the way he wants to approach the game is different, every coach has a different way to approach the game.” “Obviously, he demands a lot and that’s good because we concentrate a lot now because we know that if we don’t do what he wants, you’re out of the team, you don’t play, so I think that’s a good thing. Everyone knows that even if you don’t score goals or don’t assist if you do what he asks you to do, he’ll be okay with that.”
