Manchester United reporter There comes a point when encouraging performances aren't good enough for a team of Manchester United 's stature. If you're an optimist, they put in two of their most impressive performances of the season in the past week, if you're a pessimistic, or perhaps a realist, they didn't win either of them. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to ManchesterWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Erik ten Hag might point towards the positives as evidence why things will eventually get better, though the harsh reality is that with Tottenham, Porto and Aston Villa coming up, time is not a luxury he has on his side. The need to improve immediately poses an awkward dilemma for Ten Hag. He needs to play a team he can trust to get a positive result, yet the player he arguably trusts the most has not been good enough this season.
It is always dangerous to write Bruno Fernandes off, but performance levels have dropped in recent weeks, with his displays against Crystal Palace and Twente two of the most disappointing in recent memory. The 30-year-old struggled to make much of an impact again on Wednesday night, battling hard in midfield but without dictating the match in the same way he usually does, and rarely troubling a resilient opposition defence. It seems obvious Fernandes' dip in form is partly down to just how much football he has been playing, with the club captain not even afforded a rest in l.