The Portuguese midfielder has been poor for weeks now, and Ten Hag cannot go on with him.
Manchester United were brushed aside yesterday by Newcastle United, marking one of the more frustrating Premier League defeats they have suffered this season.
What made the dominant display even more frustrating was the fact that they were not outclassed; they were outfought.
In a post-match interview, Luke Shaw outlined exactly why he thought they fell to defeat: “I don’t think they won the game on quality today, they won it on passion, desire, hunger, attitude, and they had higher motivation than us and that can’t be possible.
“I feel I say the same things every time we lose. It’s not acceptable. At Manchester United that can’t be possible.”
Although admittance of such an issue is all well and good, it is something which needs solving. The Red Devils cannot allow themselves to become embroiled in a battle for the top four, especially with their FA Cup and Europa League presence still crowding their schedule.
Erik ten Hag has to come to some solution to turn around this downturn in league form, and one shocking conclusion could be to finally ditch Bruno Fernandes.
How did Bruno Fernandes play vs Newcastle United?
It seems like ever since that embarrassing loss to Liverpool, the Portuguese midfielder has come under ever-increasing scrutiny for his decreasing level of performance.
Lambasted for a poor attitude at Anfield, and once again struggling to make an impact at St James’, plenty sections of the media sought to once again showcase their frustrations, with journalist Thomas Alencar writing: “Bruno Fernandes was very out of touch and missed a lot of passes on the counterattacks.”
This was supported by his statistics, where he lost possession 16 times and won just one of the six duels he competed in. This unsurprisingly culminated in his abysmal 6.4 rating, via Sofascore.
Fellow writer Thomas Hammond even suggested that the way in which the Magpies played had rendered the 28-year-old wholly “ineffective”.
However, arguably the most scathing criticism came from producer Elliot Hawkins, who claimed he was: “Embarrassed to have Fernandes and Antony in my team.”
Despite boasting 59 touches, the £240k-per-week playmaker’s influence on the pitch was limited to attempting the impossible with unsurprisingly little success.
This was his second Sofascore rating of 6.4 or lower in his last three games and with high-flying Brentford and survival-seeking Everton to come, things do not get any easier.
Dropping him for the resurgent Scott McTominay perhaps, in the more offensive role that has seen him thrive for Scotland, could afford the Portuguese star some perspective as to the kind of levels he needs to maintain to retain his place in the side.
