Bruno Fernandes says ‘ghosts from past’ appeared during Manchester United’s brutal start under Erik ten Hag

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes has admitted that the team’s brutal start to life under Erik ten Hag had the players feeling as if the “ghosts from the past” had appeared.

United suffered a catastrophic start to the season when they lost 2-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion and then went away to Brentford and were pummelled 4-0.

After an optimistic summer, where the appointment of former Ajax boss Ten Hag was supposed to herald a new start and an end to the team’s struggles since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, it felt like the same old problems.

“You could feel it between us, between the fans, in the atmosphere, that it was like getting back to the past,” said Fernandes.

“Everyone felt that the confidence was low again. Everyone was a little – not afraid – but not feeling the best to take the ball. I felt sometimes like it was the ghosts from the past.

“Then Brentford was even worse. We conceded a goal from nothing and all of a sudden you could see the energy of the team was low, the confidence was low.”

“Confidence in football is not everything but almost everything. When you have the confidence of your team-mates, your coach, the fans, it is really important because sometimes on the pitch, when you miss a pass and everyone is… [groans]

“You can feel it in that moment. But when you miss a pass and react quickly, you see the fans appreciate it, so for us, it is about having the confidence that we are capable of doing something.

“When I talk about the ghosts of the past, I mean that we felt in the past that every time we miss a pass or something, we were letting someone down, so you start missing more. Instead, you must think, ‘I have to try’.

“I know that because I have had more than 400 games in my career. I have had bad games, really good games, normal games. It is about understanding what you have done well in the good ones to keep having them and to shake off doubts about your performance.”

But things have turned around. United have now beaten Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester City and Arsenal and sit fifth in the Premier League. Fernandes has been impressed by Ten Hag thus far.

“First of all, he has an idea,” Fernandes says of the Dutchman.

“He has a style. You have to follow his rules. He is strict on that. And I like that. He has brought discipline, which is something I think we missed in the past. Everyone must be on the same page.

“That is what Pep (Guardiola) and (Jurgen) Klopp have been doing for years, because they have stability in the club and in the way they choose the transfer market and build the team, which is really important for them to get the rewards.

“I saw the manager say in a press conference that we do not want to bring players just for the sake of it, we want to bring the right players for what we want to do. It is something the club needs.

“We still have a margin to improve and he needs time to get the most out of us with his idea of playing. I believe we will get to the point with him where we are established as a team and everyone is on the same page.”