Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes issued an apology to former manager Erik ten Hag after scoring in his side’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Just six days after the Dutch boss departed Old Trafford, the playmaker scored his first Premier League goal of the season from the penalty spot, briefly giving United hope of taking all three points.
Moises Caicedo volleyed home for Chelsea three minutes later though, denying interim manager Reid van Nistelrooy a second successive win in charge.
And afterwards, Fernandes revealed he had contacted Ten Hag since his sacking, and expressed his regret at how his reign had ended.
“I spoke to him and I apologised if there was anything I could have done better,” he told Sky Sports. “I feel very disappointed that he’s gone. I wasn’t scoring goals, obviously that’s not good for me, and the team are not scoring many goals and I feel responsible.”
Fernandes had not struck all season before his brace in the 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester in midweek, which came just over 48 hours after Ten Hag left. But despite holding his hands up, the Portuguese midfielder also insisted he had given everything for his former boss.
He added: “I’m usually a player who gets a lot of goals and a lot of assists and it was not coming so I feel disappointed with that. But I always gave 100 per cent to help him and the main thing for me is that he is aware of that. And that’s something at least that I can keep in my head.”
Fernandes was his side’s top scorer in all competitions last season with 15 goals. This time around, Alejandro Garnacho is the only player to have scored twice in the league so far.
The 30-year-old also admitted that Ten Hag had paid the price for the players themselves not performing on the field. United are currently 13th, their worst ever position 10 games into a Premier League season.
“It’s been a difficult week because Erik is gone, and it’s not good for anyone at the club when the manager goes because it means the position of the club is not the best,” he continued. “And it ends up that the manager is the one that pays, so obviously we are all disappointed by that.
“When the manager goes you always have to take a little bit of the blame yourself. We all know that when a manager goes everyone is involved. But only one pays because it’s easier to get rid of a manager than it is 10 or 15 players.”
In the summer, Fernandes signed a new contract with the club that runs until 2027. He’s now made 248 appearances for United since signing form Sporting CP in January 2020, scoring 82 times.
