Bruno Fernandes Has Solved a Piece of the Puzzle - But United Still Have Questions to Answer

​Seeing Bruno Fernandes get off the mark in Manchester United colours was the perfect way to round off the weekend at Old Trafford.

The Portugal international didn't just score the winning goal of the game - via a penalty which he won himself too - but Fernandes was United's standout player against Watford by a country mile, popping up across the pitch to drag the hosts across the line.

It's the first time that Manchester United have picked up back to back wins in the Premier League this year, something which alone offers quite a bit of insight into just how much Fernandes has made an impact in the north-west.

Bruno Fernandes

But Sunday's 3-0 win still wasn't as straight forward as it could have been. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side picked up all three points, but United looked lost at sea both in attack and defence.


Going forward the Reds resorted to their long-ball tactic to try to find a way through Watford's defences, something that was unsurprisingly was dealt with by Nigel Pearson's side.


Fernandes was able to find the breakthrough and things started to fall into place as the game went on, but it was at the other end of the pitch where some serious questions are still hanging over Manchester United's squad.


Nemanja Matić and Fred were looking to match Watford's pressing game and left too many gaps ahead of the back four, which in the first half specifically saw the visitors enjoy too much space in between the lines.

At times, Watford were even able to attack with more numbers than Manchester United had in defence, although Nigel Pearson's side couldn't make their chances count going forward.


It wasn't just defensively where there will still be questions about personnel - and, more pressingly, tactics - as Manchester United still relied on individual quality going forward.


Although Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood were able to get on the scoresheet, both players appeared to be playing in the wrong roles on Sunday.


Martial started the match as United's main striker, but the Frenchman drifted out wide far too often and left few options for Fernandes to pick out through the middle of the pitch, being forced to try and find Daniel James with looped balls in behind on the left-wing.


Greenwood, who started on the right, did his best to fill in through the middle whenever Martial went wandering off out wide, but that in turn left Aaron Wan-Bissaka far too isolated in defence - prompting situations where Watford had more bodies in attack than United had in defence.

FBL-ENG-PR-MAN UTD-WATFORD

All the focus from Sunday's win will be centred around Fernandes' impact at Manchester United in such a short space of time, but Solskjaer's side still look a shadow of their former selves and still need some major investment on the pitch, as well as in the dugout, if they want to climb back up the Premier League's hierarchy.


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Source : 90min