Bruno Fernandes and Michael Carrick.

How Bruno is learning from pass master Carrick

Saturday 14 November 2020 22:30

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has explained that he is learning a lot from coach Michael Carrick as he strives to improve his game even further.

The spectacular signing from Sporting Lisbon was instrumental in our most recent victory, at Everton, with another two goals and the assist for substitute Edinson Cavani’s clincher.

During his enjoyable UTD Podcast episode, the Portugal international admitted he is picking up tips from one of his predecessors in United's engine room in Carrick, who is a vital part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching team.

Bruno’s away record: 10 games, 10 goals Video

Bruno’s away record: 10 games, 10 goals

Spend the next five minutes watching every single one of Bruno Fernandes’s Premier League goals on the road…

“Today, I was watching in training and Carrick was playing – maybe there was one player less, and some of the players in the last first XI are in recovery – and I was watching Carrick, and he didn’t miss a pass.

"It’s unbelievable how fresh and sharp he is doing the exercises with us, and I was talking with Fred and I was going to say to him, hey, watch him playing and do the same, but I thought it was unfair and so I didn’t say it! But it was amazing – if someone from outside come to watch training, nobody would say this guy isn’t playing in the team.

“He’s a player who has that quality of passes and also when we need to do some finishing or passing exercises, he’s always there helping us with the balls. I’m learning a lot from him and he’s one of the people I like to listen to, because he was a big player, he won a lot of trophies for the club and for me you have to learn from these players.

“Carrick and [Portugal's] Joao Moutinho are the sort of players from whom you can learn how to be smart in the game, how to be clever. Maybe they’re not the sort of players that kids will watch and say, I want to be like Michael Carrick, but when you have one in the team, you know that guy will never miss a pass, you know he will do the smart pass, most of the time will make the right decision, and you need these kinds of players.”

If Bruno's own passing accuracy slips below par during a game, it seems the scrutiny will start from within, when he's sat in front of a TV screen later the same day.

“Normally when I finish a game, I come home and it’s difficult to sleep because of all the energy and also all the caffeine you take before the game to give you energy,” he reveals in UTD Podcast.

“It’s difficult to calm down, so I come back home and start watching the game. Looking at the points I did well, looking at the points I did bad or I need to improve.

“I like to see the analysis and then I’ll see how many passes I missed, how many balls I recovered, how many long passes I made and how many were good and how many were wrong. I like to watch all those kind of details because I think details can make all the difference in football.”

The Bruno Fernandes episode of UTD Podcast will be available to download or stream here from 17:00 GMT on Monday.

You can also check out the previous episodes via manutd.com/podcast.

Recommended: