Bruno Fernandes too dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo at Man Utd, warns ex-Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen
CHELSEA legend Eidur Gudjohnsen has claimed Manchester United's midfield talisman Bruno Fernandes is too dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The retired striker, who also enjoyed fruitful spells at Bolton and Barcelona, has accused the Portuguese international of trying too hard to give his compatriot the ball.
Fernandes has failed to show the form he displayed in his first 18 months at Old Trafford since a brilliant opening day hat-trick against Leeds United in August.
Since that treble he has scored just twice in the Premier League, although he has retained his place in new interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s side.
Gudjohnsen, who quit professional football in September 2017, told Icelandic broadcaster MBL via Portuguese outlet Record: “It’s as if Fernandes was always looking for Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Nine out of ten times, he tries to find Ronaldo and if this doesn’t work, he gets impatient and begins to try very difficult things.
“Bearing in mind the way he began at United, we want to see much more of him.”
Fernandes failed to impress at the weekend against Norwich, with critics saying he was still 'clearly adjusting' to his new position behind Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.
United won the match 1-0 thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty.
Arsenal and England midfielder Paul Merson said recently he believed Fernandes, who fired home 28 goals in all competitions last season, had 'lost confidence'.
He added: “When you lose confidence it doesn't matter who you are - we all lose confidence - it's a different game.
"He's not touching the ball in the game now, he's not touching it 60, 70 or 80 times.
"Everything went through Fernandes, everything. It's not that case now, everyone's looking for Ronaldo now. This needs to change."
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