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Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has dismissed criticism surrounding his performances against the “Big Six” teams in the Premier League this season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side failed to win a league match against England’s top clubs this season with Fernandes’ only goal from the penalty spot in United’s 6-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
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The Portugal international has a chance to improve his record when United take on runaway leader Manchester City on Sunday, but said he can handle the pressure in big games.
“I don’t know what people mean by ‘top six,’ because teams are in the top six in the table,” he told Sky Sports. “Marco and I assist against some of them. I scored this season against Tottenham. But some people say penalties don’t count!
“I know that people expect Bruno to score or help in every game because when I arrived, I was playing very well. If you look at my statistics, everyone thinks that Bruno has to score in every game, Bruno has to help in every game. matches.
“And I want to do that, it’s the most important thing. But as a player, I don’t look for the big six or the rest of the league. I look for all the games in the same way. And I think the league is not a sprint, it is a marathon. , so you don’t have to score or win against the big six, you have to score and win against everyone.
“I see people talking about how Bruno is not doing so well against the ‘big six.’ People have said that Bruno gives the ball away too many times when we lose a match.
“Also, in the match against [Istanbul] Basaksehir, I scored two goals and lost more balls than your team, but people said I was the best player in the game. So what is the point?”
Fernandes is the club’s top scorer this season with 22 goals to his name, but criticized the idea that statistics are more important than performances.
“I saw an interview with Luke [Shaw] saying, “people now care more about statistics than performance.” And this is the truth. Because now they expect only goals and assists from me, not performances.
“They don’t care about Bruno’s performance, they don’t care about the recovery of the ball or how many chances he generates, because I can create 10 chances, but if I don’t score, people will say that Bruno didn’t play much. Well.
“But this is soccer. Soccer is in the moment. Some people have said that I’m playing badly and that I have to do better. And I agree, because we can always do better. But for me, it’s okay. I can have that pressure in my back “.
