Bruno Fernandes has risked the wrath of Manchester United fans with his blunt admission about the manner of the Red Devils' performance against Brighton.
United were left humiliated at the AMEX Stadium on Saturday, with the Seagulls claiming a dominant 4-0 win. Ralf Rangnick's side put in a dreadful display, conceding three goals in 11 second-half minutes to fall to defeat.
It was a loss that also has confirmed that United will not be taking part in next season's edition of the Champions League. While the Red Devils' chances of claiming a top four place were slim going into the game, they still had an opportunity to close the gap on Arsenal.
Despite having the threat of no place in the Champions League hanging over their heads, United were lacklustre for much of proceedings. And Fernandes has now claimed that Brighton had more desire to win than their visitors, risking the wrath of his side's supporters in the process.
"Brighton played much better than us. They had more desire than us, they deserve more than us to win this game. They created a lot of chances and could have scored a lot more times. Obviously we had our chances too but it wasn't enough and we know that," Fernandes told MUTV.
"Since the beginning of the game, they were more aggressive than us. We were not strong enough with the second balls in this game. We did some mistakes defensively and offensively, we were not capable of scoring goals."
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The battering at Brighton is just the latest low point in what has been a dreadful campaign for United. But Fernandes insisted that they need to stay focused ahead of their final game of the season against Crystal Palace in two weeks' time.
“The whole season has been like this, ups and downs, the downs have been too down, and we have one game left. We have to win that game and that’s everything we can do. The worst thing is to have training the next two weeks," Fernandes added.
"The game is far away but we have to keep our focus, do our best and understand that last game is important for us, and we have to win it. As always, we have to be grateful [to the fans], they have been through bad things seeing their club this season and as I said, they have been supporting us all through the season."
With only one game left of their season, the best United can finish is sixth, the final Europa League qualification place. But if they are defeated by Palace and Wolves win all of their final three matches, the Red Devils could drop as low as eighth, a position that carries no European qualification.
Fernandes' admission of a lack of desire at Old Trafford may concern incoming boss Erik ten Hag, with the current squad all playing for their futures. The Dutchman will take over at the end of the season, with a major squad overhaul almost certain to take place.
