Earlier today, we covered some quotes from Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes speaking to the Brazilian media.
There, he talked about the great atmosphere that Old Trafford had during the match against Liverpool, and all the efforts he and his teammates made to get the win over Jürgen Klopp’s side.
Interviewed by TNT Sports’ Fred Caldeira and ESPN Brasil’s Renato Senise, the captain was also asked about his teammates who hadn’t been doing that well lately and managed to step up in such a big game.
Bruno Fernandes started by talking about Antony, claiming the Manchester United winger should learn how to take criticism, while he’s been doing very well in training.
He also praised Amad Diallo for showing up at the right time and scoring the winner.
“It was very important. But obviously… I know that some players take more criticism than others, obviously everyone has high expectations of Antony, which is why he’s been criticised a lot. Because expectations are high, because we believe he has great qualities. And I think that when the criticism comes from outside, he has to understand that if they’re criticising him, it’s because they see something in him that he can do more of, and not see it in a negative side, that’s how I do it,” said Bruno Fernandes.
“And Antony was important for us today, as he has been at other times. Apart from the goal, he was important because he had to play a different role in the second half. And he wasn’t happy about it, but he went out there, did his job, defended, and helped in whatever was needed to win the game. And it’s moments like these that also make the player… he’s been training very well, very well, and since… I think the turn of the year did Antony a lot of good, he had that first game in the cup where he scored a goal and an assist.”
“Then he didn’t get as many chances to play, also because of the quality of the other players and the momentum of the other players. But he’s been training, he’s been excellent in training and that’s why he’s been able to come on and score today. Because if he hadn’t been training well and doing the right things, he wouldn’t have had the results he had today.”
“Just like Amad. Amad has been training well. Also for a long time and everyone wants his chance. And he got his chance today and enjoyed it, he managed to score the winning goal, and it’s moments like this that players… when they do the right things, what’s theirs comes to them.”
Bruno Fernandes was also asked about the possibility of winning a title this season. The player claimed that Manchester United had bigger aspirations, but the FA Cup continues to be one of the objectives they have.
“Obviously. I don’t think we’ve ever hidden that, it’s always been in the back of our minds that from the moment we fell short of winning the Premier League, which was a goal, we’re not going to hide that, it was a goal, we fell short and that’s that. We weren’t consistent enough. But we’ve been saying all along that the FA Cup is a real goal and it’s our goal. Regardless of whether we could have lost today, it was a goal, wasn’t it? And now we have the chance to be in the semi-final and we have to do everything we can to get to the final and win it.”
Following the international break, Manchester United will be back in action on March 30th in a Premier League clash against Brentford.
