Back at the end of last season, Erik ten Hag held the FA Cup trophy aloft, he smiled and batted away any concerns that he wouldn’t be Manchester United‘s manager when the new campaign kicked off.
Despite a wave of criticism and a barrage of torment from pundits, he defied his critics. Well, sort of.
Ten Hag kept his position but nothing has been different about the Red Devils during their opening three matches of the season to date.
They defeated Fulham but it took a last-gasp goal from debutant Joshua Zirkzee to do so. They then suffered a late defeat to Brighton and were swept aside, of course they were, by rivals Liverpool.
They face newly-promoted Southampton on Saturday lunchtime and it’s a game where they should take all three points.
Latest Man United injury news
Heading into the game with the Saints, United will still be without the services of Mason Mount and long-term absentee Leny Yoro. It’s also likely that Rasmus Hojlund will continue to sit out with the club cautiously managing his return to action.
The biggest blow to Ten Hag’s preparation concerns Bruno Fernandes. This has been a dreaded international break and it’s lived up to its name with Nathan Ake and Martin Odegaard receiving nasty-looking injuries while playing for their countries.
Well, Fernandes may have suffered the same feat. Playing for Portugal against Scotland, the attacking midfielder lasted the full 90 minutes and scored but was seen limping after a blow to his ankle.
Talking to the media after the game, he was quick to calm any fears over his fitness, saying: “It’s just a little bump.”
At the moment, his chances of making the game are said to be around 75% with assessments taking place.
It looks as though he’ll be fit to play in some capacity but whether he starts remains to be seen.
How Bruno Fernandes could be replaced
If the United skipper is forced to sit out of Saturday’s encounter it will be a huge blow to an already down-trodden side.
He is the heartbeat of the team and even if he hasn’t scored yet this term, he has proven to be their main man over a number of years now.
Fernandes found the net on 15 occasions last season and also registered 13 assists. To put those numbers into context, only Hojlund scored more (16), while no other player at Old Trafford assisted more goals. So, he’s pretty damn important then.
How can United replace him? With great difficulty. Mount is out so that rules out one option which could mean that Christian Eriksen is given his first start of the season in a no.10 role, the position he thrived in at Spurs.
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Bruno Fernandes’ Man Utd career |
|
|---|---|
|
Signing fee |
£47m |
|
Salary |
£300k-p/w |
|
Games played |
237 |
|
Goals |
79 |
|
Assists |
67 |
|
Minutes played |
20,077 |
|
Honours won |
2 |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt / Salary via Capology. |
|
During his career in Manchester, the Dane has usually been restricted by playing in a deeper role but 55 of his 118 career goals have come as an attacking midfielder.
What his inclusion means, however, is that there’s a strong likelihood that Casemiro is forced to start in the centre of the park.
Toby Collyer did replace the struggling Brazilian at half-time against Liverpool but with Fernandes out, it would be a gamble to remove so much experience from the side.
That said, anyone is better than Casemiro, right?
The veteran has been a dwindling force over the last year – that’s putting it politely too – with the nadir of his time arguably that showing against Liverpool nearly a fortnight ago.
He made two costly errors that subsequently led to the two Luis Diaz goals in the first half of the game and was handed a rather harsh 1/10 match rating by MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst.
So, Collyer could replace him or Manuel Ugarte could also be handed a debut but considering he’s not played a single minute of club football in 2024/25, that’s also unlikely.
If Fernandes does miss out then all rounds point towards another possible inclusion for Casemiro. Hold onto your hats, United fans.
