Bruno Fernandes questions Man Utd approach in heavy defeat to Como

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has suggested his side needed to be braver with their pressing during their humiliating 4-1 defeat to Como.

United were comfortably beaten by the Italian side, with Nico Paz scoring twice, and Fernandes admitted their approach allowed Como too much time and space on the ball.

The Portuguese midfielder questioned the decision not to press Como higher up the pitch, but stressed that the tactical approach was ultimately down to the manager and his coaching staff.

“Of course we can, but it’s a decision of the staff not to press man to man and sometimes leave a little bit of space in behind, to wait for them, to give them the ball,” Fernandes said.

“But sometimes when you give these teams too much of the ball, they get confidence, they have so many bodies behind the ball that make you run a lot, make you frustrated, and obviously when we recover the ball, the legs and the brain are much more difficult to make it work.”

Fernandes believes United should have taken more risks in their pressing to prevent Como from playing through the middle of the pitch.

“It’s on the manager and the staff to say it, not up to me,” he continued.

“I just said, I think sometimes we have to be more brave under pressure, trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable, as they did to us.

“A team that wants to play through the middle and likes these small connections, if you give them too much time on the ball to think and to rotate in the middle of the pitch then they create a big space on the outside and that’s what they did.”