On stage at Federation Square in the heart of Melbourne on Saturday, five Manchester United players waved to a crowd of a few thousand as they prepared to launch the club’s new away kit.
The sun was setting on another chilly mid-winter evening, but that hadn’t deterred United fans from Down Under coming out to get another glimpse of their heroes.
Their fervour was impressive and many had bought banners to wave at Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Scott McTominay.
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This was the day after United had beaten Melbourne Victory 4-1 at the MCG and a few days before they return to the venue against Crystal Palace. As the fans waited to see the players and the host tried to buy time, the supporters were asked who they were most looking forward to seeing.
“Bruno, Bruno” was the overwhelming verdict. Fernandes was the most popular player and while all five got a great reception as they entered the stage, it did seem that the overwhelming fans' favourite amongst Aussie reds was the Portuguese midfielder.
Fernanes had a disappointing 2021/22, but he certainly has credit in the bank given the way his arrival transformed United’s midfield under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. That hasn’t been forgotten.
But Erik ten Hag’s arrival brought a sense of intrigue around the role Fernandes would play. Since his £47million move from Sporting, he has been a high-risk, high-reward playmaker. He was capable of creating something out of nothing, but on his days he could be culpable for turning over possession on countless occasions. Fernandes looked to create every time he got on the ball and sometimes that desire came at the expense of keeping possession.
Ten Hag wants his teams to be better on the ball, to take a patient approach and maintain possession, so the natural query was how Fernandes would fit into that? When United began talks to sign Christian Eriksen, another creative footballer but one who prizes possession a little more than Fernandes, it did look like there would be competition for that role.
But Ten Hag’s impact at United has been rapid. In two pre-season friendlies, in Bangkok and Melbourne, we’re already seeing the fruits of the labour from the training ground. And the labour has been intensive.
United’s players are getting one day off on tour, which has now been and gone after they enjoyed the sights and sounds of Melbourne on Sunday. There have been plenty of double sessions and even single sessions have lasted as long as three hours.
United trained in front of the cameras for 90 minutes at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok a week ago and Ten Hag was front and centre of that session. At one point he told his players not to cross the ball if it wasn’t on, urging them to keep building and stay patient.
Fernandes hasn’t always found that easy, but against Liverpool he was impressive in 45 minutes on the pitch. He played a couple of excellent through balls but was happy to take the easy option at times as well.
At the MCG on Friday he was involved in Anthony Martial’s goal, forming a triangle down the right with Jadon Sancho and Fred, exchanging passes until the killer ball revealed itself, with Sancho sliding in Diogo Dalot.
It feels like last season Fernandes might have turned away from those triangles to try and provide a cross into the box. This time he was just a cog in the machine.
Ten Hag’s influence on this team is already looking clear. He has provided a structure to their play that has been lacking in recent seasons.
Rather than looking like a potential casualty of that, Fernandes might well to be able to take his game to the next level under the Dutchman.
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