Man Utd star Fernandes told Solskjaer tactics needed changing and he had to drop deeper before comeback against Atalanta
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BRUNO FERNANDES told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to alter his tactics after Manchester United's first-half horror show against Atalanta.
At the break, the Red Devils trailed 2-0 to the Serie A side and the Portuguese told his boss something had to change.
Manager Solskjaer was trying to calm down the feuding players in the dressing room after an awful first period.
A furious Cristiano Ronaldo was first to intervene as he took a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book and gave the first team the hairdryer treatment.
He blasted: "Are you not ashamed?!"
It was then Solskjaer who took over and said the game was still there to be won if they played as a team and got the first goal in the second-half.
And Fernandes then told the manager there needed to be a change in tactics and he had to drop deeper in order get on the ball more.
United went on to produce a rousing second-half display scoring three times to go top of Group F with Ronaldo getting the headed winner in the 81st minute.
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But half-time proved the increasing influence both Ronaldo and Fernandes are starting to have as the Red Devils season threatens to be derailed.
United face Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday having taken just a point from their last three games.
Lose and they will be seven behind the Merseysiders and potentially eight behind current table-toppers Chelsea.
Fernandes knows the team has to improve but in a frank observation he also said there needs to be improvement from the manager and coaching staff too.
He also added they had to support Solskjaer even if they think he is getting it wrong.
Fernandes said: “We have a lot to improve on and the coach also knows there has to be some improvement at their end but that is part of football.
"Every day we are learning something new. But football is the present and it's the now.
“We fully support him. He's our manager, we follow his ideas and believe in them.
"Of course players start to get a bit suspicious when they don't play or when things don't go well…
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"But, honestly, footballers are annoying. We think we're always right.
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“Look, I can think one way is better and my team-mate can think the other way is the best one, so how could we decide which one is better?
"That's why we have to follow the manager's ideas. His ideas might be right or wrong, but we're sticking with it until the end."
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