Bruno Fernandes[1] will carry on as Manchester United[2]‘s penalty-taker despite missing two of his three attempts this season.
Fernandes failed from the spot against Brentford[3] and Fulham[4], having previously only missed four of his 42 penalties since joining United in 2020.
However, the Portugal star converted in injury-time to beat Burnley[5] and take his United record to 39 goals from 45 attempts – the two penalties he scored in a marathon Carabao Cup[6] shootout at Grimsby don’t count – and a career total of 62 from 70.
Head coach Ruben Amorim[7] insists his captain will take responsibility if United are awarded another one against Liverpool[8] at Anfield today (sun).
‘Yes, he’s the main taker,’ said Amorim. ‘He scores a lot of goals. We have other options and more guys to score a penalty if he needs. If we need, we can change. But I’m fully confident that Bruno will sort that out.
‘I know that it’s not easy for him. But I think he has 70 penalties and he misses like nine – two with me, so I’m really annoyed with that!
Bruno Fernandes failed from the spot against Brentford – his second miss of the season
Ruben Amorim has confirmed he will remain on penalties despite his troubles so far
‘But he’s really confident. He’s practising the penalties. He’s trying to understand that people are watching the way he scores the penalties. So he will be ready.’
Fernandes isn’t the only United player being scrutinised by his opponents. Amorim warned new goalkeeper Senne Lammens that Premier League rivals like Liverpool will have observed that he takes too long to pass the ball, even though being two-footed is an advantage when they try to press him.
He added: ‘Senne has one ability that is really good. He can play both feet. It’s harder for the opponents to try to make the pressure from one side or the other.
‘They know that he can kick the ball with both feet and I think that is really important. But he also needs to be ready for the Premier League. People are seeing the games, understanding that it takes a little bit of time to choose.’
United go to Anfield buoyed by a 2-0 victory over Sunderland, and Amorim isn’t worried by the statistics that show he hasn’t won back-to-back league games after nearly a year in charge or beaten any teams straight after an international break.
He is more concerned his players show the same mentality as they did when drawing 2-2 at Anfield in January to deal with the hostile environment.
‘We showed last season,’ he said. ‘I think the way we start the game is more important than the environment. The environment can change. It’s going to be loud, but we are ready to play with that. If you look at last year, sometimes we play better in that kind of environment than the pressure at home.
‘I’m not thinking we didn’t win after the international break win since I’m here. We cannot win back-to-back. We can win any game. It depends sometimes from the opponent but also from us.’
Meanwhile, Amorim indicated that Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee won’t be allowed to leave in the January transfer window despite both players unhappy over their lack of playing time ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
Mainoo and Zirkzee were linked with loan moves to Napoli and Roma this summer as their frustration grew, but Amorim said: ‘I understand that but they are our players and we need everyone to have a good season.
‘I also know that in our club everything is a lot of noise. Players are not playing. They want to play, and there’s a World Cup. There are agents that listen to the players, talking all the time.’
References
- ^ Bruno Fernandes (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Manchester United (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Brentford (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Fulham (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Burnley (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Carabao Cup (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Ruben Amorim (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Liverpool (www.dailymail.co.uk)