“Ten Hag should not play him out of position again; he has every quality a manager looks for in a player”: This United player against City greatly impressed Rio Ferdinand; Ten Hag shouldn’t adjust his job

Rio Ferdinand believed regardless of his position, there’s an area of the pitch he excels in and shouldn’t move from there.

Rio Ferdinand hails ‘majestic’ Bruno Fernandes
In the absence of a natural striker, Erik ten Hag repeated the system that got him the FA Cup win last season vs the same opponents.

Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes interchanged positions at the tip of the attack, with Marcus Rashford and Amad providing width in a fluid strikerless system.

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Rio Ferdinand hailed Fernandes’ performance in an unfamiliar role of a false nine, saying he excelled because the area of the pitch he was stationed in is where he is at his best.

He said that Fernandes does the most damage to the opposition when he is positioned higher up the pitch, regardless of role, and when United return to a system with a natural striker, that shouldn’t change.

He said on his podcast Rio Reacts: “One thing I would say I want to get with Bruno this season, he was playing in the false nine there today which is great. When Hojlund comes back, I just want to see Bruno higher in the positions to just hurt teams.

“When he’s in the final third, there’s no other player in that team that I want on the ball for delivery into other players or for shooting. He is majestic in those positions.”

Breaking down Fernandes vs City
Fernandes started off slowly vs City, as did the rest of the team as Guardiola’s men put the squeeze on. However, as United grew into the game, courtesy of Amad’s efforts, Fernandes came alive.

Playing higher up the pitch but not in a set position, his game intelligence and positional awareness shined as he took up dangerous positions.