New Man Utd captain Bruno Fernandes spoke of his pride at being given the armband after his side’s 2-0 friendly win over Arsenal and says he expects the team to step up this season.
The Portugal midfielder scored United’s opener on Saturday night in New Jersey in his first game since replacing Harry Maguire as the club’s leader, with Jadon Sancho adding the second to wrap up an encouraging win.
When asked about the captaincy, Fernandes said he would “give everything” to try to lead United to success in this coming campaign and revealed why he thought Ten Hag chose him to take over from Maguire.
“There was a feeling I would like it to be me but I didn’t hear,” Fernandes said of the decision.
“The manager wanted to tell the team together. It is really good to be captain of Manchester United, it is a big achievement in my career but now there is a lot of work to do.
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“The manager chose me because of what I was doing last season and the way he worked with me.
“He liked the way I work, my discipline, everything I give, my passion, everything I give, so I don’t see why I should change.
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“(The approach) will be the same. I don’t need to change anything.
Image: Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring for Man Utd against Arsenal
“You have to be as natural as you can because they all know me, they know I am really vocal, that I try to be open with everyone, be clear and try to help in the way I think is the best.
“Sometimes I can be wrong and not be the best way, but they know me really very well, so they know I will give everything for them.
“Everything I said to them is because I think they can do good things because they are big players in the dressing room.”
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Reflecting on last season, in which United finished third in the Premier League, won the Carabao Cup and lost to Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup, Fernandes said there is a platform to kick on from but it is time for United to show they are “a big team”.
“We did a really good season,” he said. “It was not successful, but I think that our season was good.
“We started in the wrong way. We had two bad results, our away games were not the best. We didn’t get the best results. But I think overall the season was good.
“Obviously it was the first season for the manager, first season for many players.
“Now we know that we have to improve game-wise and we will. We will improve it and we will show that we are a big team.
“Manchester United have to fight for everything. This club deserves that.
“We know when you come to a club like this that you have to fight for all the trophies that you are included in. That’s what we have to do. Fight for them, try our best to win every game that we have and that’s it.”
Ten Hag “really pleased” with performance vs Arsenal
Image: Man Utd made it three wins from three in pre-season with a 2-0 win over Arsenal
After the win over Arsenal, head coach Ten Hag said he was pleased with his side’s performance as they build up for the new season.
After wins over Leeds and Lyon, United’s third win in a row shows they are progressing well, with Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to come for the first team on their US tour.
“The way we played, I was really pleased, how active we were in and out of possession,” said Ten Hag.
“That is the way we want to play and that is the only period of the year you can really work in training and translate it to games without it having consequences.
“But still, we want to win, and I think the lads showed we played a good game.
Image: Jadon Sancho's emphatic finish doubled United's lead
“Of course, they are all great games [on this tour]. We have to go and it helps us to progress and especially those opponents, they are good.
“Arsenal is a really good opponent. They played incredibly good last season in the Premier League, so yeah, that’s good to match with them, then you will be better.”
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Man Utd did lose Amad Diallo to a worrying-looking injury in the second half but 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo impressed.
“It’s fantastic,” the Dutchman told MUTV. “Manchester United is famous for always bringing young players up and it can be done. But we have to see.
“We have confidence, he is playing with confidence and I really like his performance. But this year, he showed it in spring, then he got injured. We are really happy.
“There are more youngsters with us now and they’re all doing very good. But I don’t want to rise expectations too high.
“We have to see. The Premier League is tough but, definitely, you can see we have some really good young players who can play a role in the squad. But the bar is high.”
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