Erik ten Hag has hailed the ‘great leadership’ of Bruno Fernandes after his decision to allow Marcus Rashford to step up for a penalty kick against Everton on Sunday.
The classy gesture from Fernandes gives us a teaser of what sort of traits made the Portuguese Magnifico our club captain in the eyes of Ten Hag.
Manchester United are on their way to Istanbul for Wednesday’s Champions League clash, and Ten Hag was joined by Fernandes for the pre-match press conference.
Rashford, who is missing for the game against Galatasaray through suspension, broke his eight-game goal drought by scoring after the break when given the nod by Fernandes.
Like any good teammate, Fernandes was thinking about Rashford’s confidence and wanted to see him score from the spot more than himself.
This all comes after Fernandes spent most of this season being criticised for his lack of leadership. Especially from former United captain Roy Keane.
However, Fernandes and Ten Hag doubled down with their comments ahead of the game against Galatasaray.
Fernandes said (via Daily Mail): “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 Portugal international said the decision was something that happened in the moment, adding: “We have a list of penalty takers and we have numbers. When I arrived at the club, Marcus was the penalty-taker. He was always respectful, saying ‘you’re doing well, keep going’.
“We are never 100 per cent chance, it’s a 50 per cent chance,” Fernandes concluded. “I could have taken the penalty and missed, we will never know!”
Ten Hag was quick to interrupt and hailed the decision of his captain, saying: “It’s great leadership, if you know your team-mate needs that goal. It is one of the examples (why Fernandes is captain), yes.”
When asked about dealing with the extra responsibility that comes with being club captain, as well as the criticism, Fernandes replied: “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.”
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