Former Manchester United defender Patrick Evra believes midfielder Bruno Fernandes can only perform when he is the real boss. Evra feels Fernandes is flourishing in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who made a controversial exit from the club.

Fernandes has scored three goals and provided five assists in 25 games across all competitions, which are well below his lofty standards. However, the Portuguese has performed far better since the conclusion of the World Cup for Manchester United.

Evra believes Manchester United’s players are in a better mental space since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Patrick Evra said, “I don’t want to talk about the past, but you can see that the team and Ten Hag are happy, all the negativity around the club with the Cristiano Ronaldo case and everything else, that’s gone now.”
The Frenchman added:

“Suddenly, it feels as if [Erik] ten Hag is doing his work without distraction. People talk a lot about how it impacts Ten Hag but I’m sure the players also feel more free and they don’t have that heavy discussion about Ronaldo surrounding them.”

Former French player feels Bruno Fernandes gets the best out of himself when he is in charge of the matters at hand.

“I always give the example of Bruno Fernandes, the fans were criticising him saying he wasn’t performing the way he used to when he signed. This isn’t a negative on Ronaldo, but Bruno Fernandes can only perform when he’s the real boss.”
He added:

“You can look at every game when he didn’t play with Eriksen or Ronaldo and that’s when we know it’s the real Fernandes. I told him face to face after a game, he told me that wasn’t the case and he can play with everyone, but I don’t think that’s true. I always say, when you go to see an orchestra there’s only one conductor.”

Manchester United have won all of their five matches since the World Cup and they will look to continue the good show. The Red Devils will next lock horns against Charlton Athletic FC on Tuesday.