77% drop in goal contributions – why Man Utd can’t rely on Bruno Fernandes anymore

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One assist in six games 

Manchester United’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday didn’t exactly go to plan. The visitors opened the scoring in the third minute of the match through a remarkable run from Micky van de Ven, setting up Brennan Johnson to tap the ball into the back of the net. But then things went from bad to worse just 39 minutes later, when Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for seemingly lunging at James Maddison and endangering the Tottenham star. And, undoubtedly, confirming a third defeat for Erik Ten Hag’s side after just six league games of the new Premier League season, when Spurs added two more to their tally in the second half.

Upon replay, the call seemed to be a harsh one for the Man Utd captain, who certainly protested against the perceived injustice after the match. “It’s a clear foul but never a red card,” said the Portugal international to Sky Sports. “Even Maddison when he gets up, he said it was a foul but never a red card.” He added: “The contact is not that strong. If he wants to give me a yellow because it’s a counter-attack, I agree, and I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t call the referee to the screen. For me, it’s not a good decision.” However, while the refereeing may have been sub-par at Old Trafford on Sunday, it paled in comparison to the performance of Ten Hag’s team before and after they went a man down. And despite only featuring in the match for 42 minutes, there’s little doubt that Fernandes is one of the club’s biggest culprits. 

Since making the move to Old Trafford in January 2020, Fernandes has been a fan favourite for his remarkable goals, frequent assists and an unquestionable desire to get up and down the pitch for the Old Trafford club. That desire is undoubtedly showcased in his remarkable game time for Man Utd since making the move to England, having made no less than 165 league appearances in that time – which is 10 more than the next best player. And in that time Fernandes has established himself as the club’s talisman in the no.10 position, bagging an impressive 95 goals and assists, which is again more than any other player at the club and 21 more than second-placed Marcus Rashford. 

However, the Portugal international’s longevity masks a degree of inconsistency that has come to plague Fernandes’ performances in recent seasons and with that limit Man Utd’s attacking potential. As we can see in the graphic above, Fernandes’ non-penalty goals and assists per 90 minutes of league football started off remarkably high, at 0.83 per 90 in his first league campaign at the club. But over the course of the next four seasons that number dropped rather dramatically down to just 0.40 per 90 last season – which points to a player that was contributing less than half the non-penalty goals and assists last season per game than he did in 2019/20. And so far this season Fernandes has bagged just one assist in six Premier League appearances. Which is, rather unfortunately, also level with his number of red cards. 

Indeed, another way of looking at Fernandes’ waning form for Man Utd over the years is by comparing him to other attacking midfielders in the Premier League. In 2019/20, only Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne averaged more non-penalty goals and assists per 90 in the Premier League than Fernandes, but as we can see in the graphic above he then dropped to fifth the following season, then eighth, fourteenth and then finally thirteenth last season. And to put that final ranking into perspective, while Fernandes was falling behind star No.10s for title contenders, such as De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Martin Ødegaard, he also finished this season with fewer goal contributions than notably defensive players like Rodri and Declan Rice, as well as players in other top six sides like Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans and Newcastle box-to-box star Bruno Guimarães. 

So while Fernandes may still be Man Utd’s best source of goals and assists and a player that’s always ready to put a shift in for Ten Hag, the Old Trafford playmaker has undoubtedly seen his output and general performances drop with every passing season. Whether that’s down to the manager he now works under or the simple fact that he’s played a huge amount of football and is now 30 years of age isn’t entirely clear, but Fernandes has long since fallen behind the Premier League’s most potent attacking midfielders. And if Man Utd hope to get back on track under their current manager or with the man that may succeed him in the coming weeks, addressing Fernandes’ form may need to be one of the club’s top priorities.