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Bruno Fernandes has continued his impressive streak of statistics at Manchester United in spite of the team’s poor form.
This is without question the worst United team in the Premier League era and probably the worst since they were relegated in the 1970s.
The majority of the players, especially in an attacking sense, have continuously under-performed all season but the captain Bruno Fernandes has kept plugging away in spite of the chaos around him.
In many ways the performance at Everton on Saturday summed up his season to date. He was careless in possession and started the match poorly, alongside the entire team.
Nonetheless, he dropped deeper in the second half and contributed two key moments to salvage a draw for his team. The first was a splendid free-kick goal and the second a lofted ball into the box which led to Manuel Ugarte’s equaliser.
According to the club’s official website, “Bruno’s effort was his 10th goal of the campaign, which was significant as he has now reached double figures in both goals and assists – of which he has 12 this term – in each of his full seasons for United in all competitions.”
Last season he netted 15 goals and provided 13 assists. The year before in Erik ten Hag’s first season he had 14 goals and 13 assists.
This consistency is even more impressive considering the absolute lack of firepower in the current squad. While he is maintaining his standards, the rest of the team have failed as only four teams in the Premier League have scored fewer goals than the Red Devils this term.
“In total, Bruno has now scored or assisted 167 goals for the Reds to date – netting 89 times and setting up 77 for team-mates in 271 appearances.”
Just to highlight how much the team depends on him, that is 128 more than anyone else at the club now that Marcus Rashford is on loan at Aston Villa.
One of the biggest compliments that can be given to the captain is that he never goes hiding on the pitch.
Despite a generally poor performance for most of the match, “Fernandes had 20 more touches than any other player, according to data by Oracle, which once again highlighted the playmaker role he has for United. He touched the ball 109 times altogether, as well as completing 64 passes – 23 of which were in the final third.”
Feature image Jan Kruger via Getty Images
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