Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes’ standard of passing is frustrating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, according to former Premier League player Jamie O’Hara.
Fernandes has been outstanding since signing for the Red Devils and even made history in December by becoming the first Premier League player to win the Player of the Month award four times in a year.
But the Portuguese star has been criticised in the past for going missing games against the big sides, with Roy Keane claiming it is for this reason he can’t be compared to Eric Cantona.
And O’Hara, who played previously played for Tottenham and Wolves, believes Fernandes’ bad habit of giving the ball away easily is leaving his manager frustrated.
“Bruno Fernandes gets built up massively, everyone talks about him being this brilliant player and he is – he’s been fantastic for Man United,” said O’Hara on talkSPORT. “But in the last few weeks when I’ve watched him against the big clubs, Liverpool and Man City, he’s been poor.
“The standard of his passing… Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did a little interview where he says Fernandes ‘frustrates him’, and I can actually see that because he gets in great positions sometimes but he gives the ball away for fun!
“Everyone slaughters Paul Pogba, people give him a hard time, people give Harry Maguire a hard time, I think Scott McTominay was absolutely fantastic for Man United against Liverpool and Luke Shaw.
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“But Bruno Fernandes, I’m looking at his performance thinking, ‘Come on, you can score loads of penalties but in those big moments if you want to win the league you need to step up a bit more’. He’s been going missing in these big games.”
“I’m not saying he’s not been absolutely fantastic for them, but if you want to be a team that wins the Premier League, you have to produce in those big games.
“Even if it’s just one pass or one piece of magic, Fernandes needs to do that on those moments, because he got the ball in so many great areas yesterday and he just kept giving it away – it was so frustrating.
“That’s the difference between him and a player like Kevin De Bruyne, who you know will turn up in every single game.”