The Spaniard made several world-class saves during the first half of the Manchester derby but still could not prevent United from losing the match.
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Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has stated that his teammates have to do more to protect goalkeeper David De Gea. The Spaniard made several world-class saves during the first half of the Manchester derby to keep the Red Devils in the contest. However, Eric Bailly’s own goal at the start of the match and a Bernardo Silva goal right at the stroke of halftime condemned the Reds to a disappointing 2-0 defeat. De Gea was probably United’s standout performer on Saturday, as he continued his recent good form. Fernandes felt that the scoreline would have been much worse had it not been for De Gea.
“It’s always a bad time to concede a goal but the problem is the way we concede goals. It’s too easy,” admitted Fernandes after the final whistle, in an interview with club media. “As I said, many, many times, if not for David, the result could be much higher and worse for us. We have to protect David better. Because he is protecting us a lot and we have to help him. He cannot make, every game, eight [or] nine saves and still concede goals.”
Fernandes thanked the Old Trafford crowd for backing them but also apologised to the fans for the performance. “We just have to apologise to the fans and that’s it,” he added. “It was not good enough from us. It was a great atmosphere they created and they pushed us until the end. They gave that energy to us but, from us, it was not enough.”
As a result of the international break, it will be two weeks until United are next in action, with a trip to Watford in the Premier League. It will be closely followed by matches with Villarreal and Chelsea. “Yeah, it will be long but now it’s time for everyone to focus on the national team. The ones who stay here try to work hard, recover well and be ready for the games that are coming,” he said.
Meanwhile, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident there will be a response once the players return from the international break. “I’m sure when we come back, the players will be fresh in their minds after the internationals and, of course, the demands on me and the players are going to be high, expectations and we’ve just got to get back to what, as I said, we started to look like and what we were for a while and we’ve got the players to do that,” he added.
“We can’t, or I can’t, look at myself and say this is the way I want Man United to play. I’m in good communication all the time with the club and that’s very up front and honest about the situation. I work for Man United, I want the best for Man United and, of course, as long as I’m here, I want to do what I can do to improve this and that’s going back to what we started to look like, as I said.”
