Bruno Fernandes hits again at Manchester United’s penalty critics with Raheem Sterling comparability

Fernandes has scored 15 penalties since arriving at Old Trafford this time final yr, whereas 5 within the Premier League this season have helped to information United to the highest of the desk forward of a visit to reigning champions Liverpool this weekend.

Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool supervisor, drew consideration to Fernandes’ variety of spot-kicks final week, claiming United had received extra penalties in two years than his gamers had in five-and-a-half.

Klopp’s numbers had been barely out – Liverpool have been awarded 46 penalties throughout his 290 video games in cost, whereas United have received 42 since Solskjaer’s appointment in December 2018 – however United’s price of successful penalties is much increased.

Fernandes insists that he doesn’t let the complaints of rival managers, gamers and followers have an effect on them although, and believes that penalty-taking is solely part of soccer that should be mastered like every other.

“I don’t hear [them]! I don’t care, honestly. You always see what people say but I really don’t care. I’m not focused on what they are saying,” he mentioned.

“I played in Portugal and when you play for Sporting, Benfica and Porto are always talking about that kind of stuff – sometimes to put pressure on the referee, sometimes just to make some noise in the press. But, for me, the main point is when we have a penalty, if I go to take the ball to the penalty spot, I have to do my job.”

Fernandes additionally drew a comparability with Sterling, who missed a late penalty in Manchester City’s 1-0 win in opposition to Brighton on Wednesday night time – his third consecutive failure from the spot for City.

“One thing I saw in the news the other day was that Raheem Sterling has missed his last three penalties,” Fernandes mentioned. “So, sure, it reveals it’s not as simple to take a penalty as folks say. You need to work on that, you must be centered, you must do your job. It’s clear like that.

“It does not mean Raheem Sterling is not a good penalty taker because he missed three in a row. It can happen. It could maybe happen to me but the important thing is to score and not to listen to what people say because penalties are part of the game, for everyone.”

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has at all times attributed United’s knack for penalty-winning to their abundance of fleet-footed attacking gamers like Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, and that’s an evaluation which Fernandes agrees with.

“As Ole says, we’ve got actually fast gamers upfront. Anthony is among the greatest gamers one in opposition to one within the field, Marcus is one other one who’s fast and has fast ft who can take the ball away from the defender in any second.

“It’s regular that generally due to that [they will be tripped] and can fall they usually acquire penalties.

“It is what it is. People can talk and say what they want. But, for me and the team, the main point is continuing to do the right things and when we get a penalty, just scoring.”

United know that if they will finish Liverpool’s club-record run of 67 video games unbeaten within the league at dwelling, then they’ll transfer six factors away from Klopp’s facet on the summit and a title problem will likely be on.

It appeared unlikely that Solskjaer can be on this place this time final yr, when a 2-0 defeat at Anfield left United 30 factors adrift of the eventual champions after shedding seven of their first 23 video games.

Fernandes signed in an preliminary £47m deal from Sporting two weeks later and lots of consider the demanding, all-action attacking midfielder to be the catalyst for United’s enchancment over the 12 months since, however the participant himself believes it has been a workforce effort.

“It was not about me,” he mentioned. “I’ve at all times been very demanding of myself however I got here to a membership that was very demanding. You play for one of many greatest golf equipment on this planet, a membership that has received the whole lot, each trophy.

“I don’t assume it was me altering the mindset of the membership. If I modified the mindset of some gamers or my mindset helped some gamers to be higher – possibly. But I don’t assume it was me altering something for the membership as a result of taking part in for Manchester United means taking part in with the strain, taking part in with the accountability.

“You have to know you play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. So for me my mindset has always been like that. I want to be better. I want to play better. I want to grow up. I think you can always learn every day, it doesn’t matter how good you are. You can always learn something.”