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MANCHESTER. — Bruno Fernandes has admitted he felt the “ghosts from the past” haunting Manchester United when they crashed to defeat in their first two games of the season — but believes Erik ten Hag has given them an identity and belief.
They lost 2-1 at home to Brighton on the opening weekend of the campaign before going down to a shocking 4-0 defeat at Brentford, erasing the positivity of pre-season.
United endured a calamitous afternoon at the Gtech Community Stadium in their second English Premier League game of the campaign, conceding four goals in a 25-minute spell during the first-half to leave them bottom of the table.
The Portuguese star said the performance reminded him of the dark days towards the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure, which was followed by the absent-minded drift of Ralf Rangnick’s interim spell.
But United have recovered strongly since that nadir, winning their next four English Premier League matches, with Liverpool and Arsenal among those defeated.
Fernandes told The Athletic: “You can feel it between us, between the fans, in the atmosphere, that is was like getting back to the past.
“Everyone felt the confidence was low again. Everyone was a little — not afraid — but not feeling the best to take the ball. I felt sometimes like it was the ghosts from the past.
“Then Brentford was even worse. We conceded a goal from nothing and all of a sudden you could see the energy of the team was low, the confidence was low.”
Fernandes describes Rangnick as a “good manager with good ideas” but admits his pressing game “did not fit with everyone”.
He adds: “There was an atmosphere between everyone where the confidence was low and everything was really down.”
However, the Ten Hag era really started with a battling 2-1 win over Liverpool and they have since beaten Southampton, Leicester and Arsenal to raise hopes of a top four finish. Fernandes credits the Dutch manager with restoring confidence to United after a turbulent year.
“First of all, he has an idea. He has a style. You have to follow his rules. He is strict on that and I like that,” Fernandes said. — Mailonline
Online Reporter