Following his performance in Saturday’s midday kick-off against Southampton, former Manchester United player Paul Scholes believes Bruno Fernandes is ‘becoming a problem.’
After losing two critical points at home to the Saints, United lost even more ground in the race for the top four.
In the first half, Jadon Sancho placed United ahead, however, as in their midweek meeting against Burnley, Ralph Rangnick’s side conceded points from a winning position.
The Red Devils’ performance against Southampton did not impress Paul Scholes, who was blunt in his assessment, suggesting Bruno Fernandes ‘is becoming an issue’ for United.
Scholes explained how the Portugal international is becoming a headache for interim manager Rangnick while on punditry duty for BT Sport.
“We don’t know what’s going on in the training ground, and you don’t know the players’ mindset,” the former United player pondered.
“What we’re hearing is bits and bobs, right?” I’m not sure, but I’d say today that he seemed to change a lot throughout the game. He changed it at least four or five times.
“He tried to start with a 4-3-3 formation, with Scott [McTominay] anchoring the midfield and Fernandes and [Paul] Pogba playing further up.
“Then he brought Pogba back and shoved Fernandes up higher; I believe Fernandes may be an issue.”
“As great as he is, he scored so many good goals, so many assists when he first got to England, but now he’s all over the football pitch.”
Scholes continued by bemoaning the fact that numerous United players strayed from their places far too often.
“From a defensive standpoint, how can you put up a shape when you don’t know where the start of it is – Ronaldo is the start, then Fernandes – how can you set traps for teams when you don’t know where some of your players are going to be?”
“Pogba enjoys wandering around. You see Fernandes, he’s a right-back sometimes, a left-back sometimes, and at the conclusion of the game, he’s five minutes behind [Diogo] Dalot.
“Either they’re not paying attention or they don’t want to.”
United now travels to Brighton on Tuesday night in the hopes of resurrecting their waning top-four ambitions.
