Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes explains the difference between Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Manchester United
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Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick is already demanding far more pressing from his players, according to Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandes started against Crystal Palace in the Red Devils' 1-0 win, off the back of breaking his goal drought against Arsenal midweek. The Portuguese talisman was keen to emphasise what his new boss was bringing to table, too, with United looking a lot more energetic further forward. 

"The first 25 minutes was unbelievable, great tempo. We could have scored so many in the first half," Fernandes claimed in the aftermath.

"We have to follow our new manager's instructions. Now we go again to the Champions League."

When comparing the German to his predecessor in the dugout, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Fernandes opted to mention the famous gegenpress - of which Rangnick is one of the style's pioneers. 

"Everyone knows the manager wants more pressing from us," he replied. "I think it depends on the game, sometimes you have to press more, sometimes less."

Solskjaer was criticised for his team's poor press with Cristiano Ronaldo in particular coming under fire for his workrate in attack. This led to CR7 being dropped for the away draw against Chelsea by caretaker manager Michael Carrick. 

Fernandes, however, did seem to back the Norwegian.

In the run-up to the match against Arsenal, Fernandes told Amazon Prime how he wanted to take responsibility for the 4-1 defeat for Watford which cost Solskjaer his job. The attacking midfielder was seen gesturing to away fans at full-time to direct their criticism towards the players, rather than the manager. 

Solskjaer was the man who brought Fernandes into the club in January 2020, when Manchester United paid Sporting Lisbon £60m for his services. 

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.