United vice-captain Bruno Fernandes is delighted with the presence of Erik ten Hag. Since the appointment of the Dutch coach, a lot has changed at Manchester United, the captain noted. And Ten Hag played the biggest role in that.
“When he first arrived, we went on a pre-workout tour,” Fernandes recalled. Speaking to club icon Rio Ferdinand, the Portuguese told BT Sport about how the stars of The Red Devils were curious about the new trainer. “He demanded a lot from us in training. He indicated that we had to hook up or get out.”
Initially, Fernandes noticed that the dressing room still wanted to see it. He remarked, “Everyone looked at the cat out of the tree. Will he intervene, will he? If a big player lets it go, will he address him? But he did it consistently every time. He did it with Cristiano Ronaldo, with Jadon Sancho and with Marcus Rashford.”
United vice-captain Bruno Fernandes describes the transformation
Fernandes can still remember the moment when Rashford did not behave according to Ten Hag’s rules. “Marcus was in shape, but did something wrong. The manager immediately passed him. Everyone thought, wow. He was our big man, we needed him, we thought. But a little later I was sitting next to David de Gea and we realized: this is how it should be,” the midfielder recalls.
“If Ten Hag did not intervene, the younger players would have started thinking: next time I can do that too,” Fernandes appreciated the way in which Ten Hag acted and it turned out well too. “He demanded the maximum from Rashford every day. Not only on the field, with his game and goals, but also off it.”
He concludes, “Initially, Rashford was not happy with Ten Hag, but the Tukker kept his leg stiff, after which the Englishman decided to accept the decision. Marcus was angry, he wanted to play. But he behaved in an exemplary manner and sat down on the couch. In the end, he scored the winning goal as a substitute. He won the game for us. Together with Ten Hag, he walked off the field laughing. That was the end of the story.”
