Bruno Fernandes finding it ‘tough’ under Ten Hag after dragging boss away

Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has revealed how life under Erik ten Hag is “tough” as the passionate Dutchman has extremely high demands of his team. That could be seen as his temper boiled in the US friendly victory over Arsenal.

Ten Hag was livid that the Red Devils were not awarded a penalty and began venting at the referee just before half-time. He then turned his frustration towards the fourth official, which led to Fernandes dragging his own manager away.

The midfielder drew many plaudits for his actions as a peacekeeper, which highlighted exactly why he was handed the captain’s armband. However, the extra privilege does not mean that he gets off any lighter behind the scenes.

“We know how the manager he is, he takes care of all details, it is pretty tough to train with him but this is the result and we have to understand that it will be tough,” Fernandes explained.

“Every pre-season there is a lot of training, a lot of work to do and it’s our second season [with him now] so we have to get better and better.”

Fernandes and Jadon Sancho scored the goals early in the first half to ensure the Red Devils continued their 100 per cent pre-season record, following victories over Leeds and Lyon. The win over Arsenal was the first time Fernandes captained the club since being handed the responsibility.

Ten Hag has previously explained why he stripped Harry Maguire of the armband to give it to Fernandes. “A good team is always covering areas as leaders, team players, multi-functional players, specialists, individualists,” Ten Hag said.

“But you need some leaders in the team, on the pitch, who are guiding the team, who are building the team, who are controlling the quality of the performance.

“And one has to wear the [arm]band and we chose, I chose, Bruno because he is a great inspiration. He is the example.

“He always wants to be a better football player, working very hard to give his maximum performance. So he is the mirror for many players and he is a good social connector.

“He is also very good at game understanding. So, for a manager, it’s very good to have that intermediary on the pitch. So those are some reasons, but he can’t do it alone.

“We need more help. We need more leaders to have a strong bond and who can point a team in the right direction.”