Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag said Bruno Fernandes has shown his “personality” to put criticism following the defeat to Liverpool behind him.
Ten Hag hailed Fernandes as the man-of-the-match in United’s 4-1 win over Real Betis in the Europa League at Old Trafford, just four days on from the 7-0 humiliation against Liverpool on Sunday.
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United captain Fernandes has been singled out for criticism for his performance at Anfield, but responded with a goal and an assist.
“I think he was the best player on the pitch,” Ten Hag said. “It showed his personality. He played a little deeper role tonight and I think he was brilliant, making the game from the back in position, a lot of good passes in between the lines and from there we created a lot of chances.”
Ten Hag also praised the fans at Old Trafford after admitting he didn’t know how they would react to the team after the weekend’s result on Merseyside.
“I was curious about that and I was pleased by the response from the crowd to the team,” Ten Hag added. “From minute one they were behind the team, the team gave energy by performance and they gave it back. There is a great bond between the team and the fans and we are pleased by that.
“We said we had to reset and bounce back. We don’t ignore it [the Liverpool result]. We made mistakes and we got hammered. We didn’t control the standards we have and we showed complacency and you can never do that in top football.”
United, who sit third in the Premier League on 49 points, host Southampton on Sunday.
