Andy Cole has given his verdict on Rasmus Hojlund at Manchester United
Man Utd held on to defeat Luton Town in their Premier League clash at Kenilworth Road on Sunday afternoon.
Bruno Fernandes had a game to forget against Luton
The record books will mark it down as another Manchester United win. The reality is that it was another match that should have been put to bed early but somehow ended up being a dramatic contest.
Luton Town deserve huge credit for the way they dug deep to cause United issues on Sunday evening, though at the same time, United ended the game deserving of the three points they had.
A lack of control has been a huge problem for United all season, and even in victory, Erik ten Hag has harsh questions to answer about their tactical set-up and their inability to manage a game properly.
Luton were allowed 72 transition opportunities in the match (effectively meaning chances to counter), the third-highest total for a team in a Premier League match this season.
Yet what was most alarming was the dreadful decision-making from some United players, which was best summed up by what Bruno Fernandes did in the dying moments of the match.
Not only were there a number of clear chances to kill the game off in the second half, but in the penultimate minute of the match, United could have all but ended the game early when they won a corner kick.
It looked like the perfect opportunity to take the sting out of the game and grind out a narrow victory over their plucky opponents. Yet, they ended up gifting them the chance of a dramatic equaliser when Fernandes took the set-piece short and tried his luck from an unfavourable angle.
“That’s madness from Fernandes to hand the ball back to Luton,” Gary Neville said on commentary. “Just keep it in that far side.”
Fernandes had so many options available to him, yet this was the absolute worst one. If he wanted to run down the clock, he could have kept the ball himself by running back towards the byline or passed the ball back to Sofyan Amrabat and Kobbie Mainoo, who stood beside him.
There were also much safer passes on in the shape of Diogo Dalot and Alejandro Garnacho, who both stood unmarked on the edge of the box and had much more favourable angles to shoot at goal.
Bruno Fernandes shot from an unfavourable angle in the dying moments
And even if he was desperate to add a third, it would have been more logical to aim a neat pass into Marcus Rashford as he made an underlapping run or even aim a cross into the box at Scott McTominay. There were seven logical options, and yet he chose the eighth.
Thomas Kaminski easily gathered the Portuguese playmaker’s feeble attempt, sparking a swift counterattack by Luton that won them their own corner. 58 seconds after Fernandes’ shot at goal, Ross Barkley hit the crossbar when he met the corner with his head.
For all their flaws at Kenilworth Road, the club captain would have had to take much of the blame if the dropped points stemmed from his selfishness.
It must be said, the 29-year-old has been one of the best performers during Ten Hag’s time at the club, but it can’t be ignored that he is often a contradiction to the control his manager wants.
Fernandes’ brilliance is that he can make something out of nothing, yet the trade-off for his individual brilliance is that he can sometimes be a little too greedy. At other times, he adopts a high-risk, high-reward approach rather than executing much safer passing options.
He has actually played some of his best football in recent years in a deeper midfield role, where he seems to make more sensible decisions, and perhaps that is where he might need to be moved in the long term if he is to remain an asset to Ten Hag’s side.
United and Fernandes were both fortunate to not be punished for their profligate performance against Luton. They might not be so lucky next time.
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