BRUNO FERNANDES WAS something of a late developer.
In Portugal, youth football has high prominence, going back to Luis Figo and Rui Costa forming part of a “golden generation” that won the 1991 World Youth Championship.
With exporting talent being a prime revenue stream for clubs, young players are swiftly championed, with each of Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon usually happy to push nascent talent.
Fernandes did not make his Portuguese Liga debut until he was nearly 23, having started in Italy with Novara before attracting the Pozzo family network of scouts at Udinese. His eventual path to Sporting Lisbon was rather different to other members of that club’s alumni, including Figo, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo himself.
It was a similar story with Portugal, where Fernando Santos, the long-standing international coach, did not reward Fernandes with a cap until he had become a Sporting player.
Santos, to whom Ronaldo is close, and has been floated as a possible stopgap appointment should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be given his cards at Manchester United, is the Portugal manager who has harnessed Ronaldo best, winning Euro 2016 and the 2019 Nations League by making the rest of the team work around a kingpin who runs at his choosing, as age and ego dictate.
Portuguese coaches tends to be conservative in outlook, as evidenced by Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo, and Santos is unlikely to grant two players such liberty to express themselves. Players like Fernandes and Bernardo Silva’s job is to fetch and carry. Fail to do so and the bench will beckon.
Fernandes’ best football at United has been played when he can put his shoulder to the wheel wherever and whenever he sees fit. Fernandes is not averse to pressing, though his commitment is sporadic, often dictated by his mood. To a coach like Santos, that equals expendability when his team are already a man down on that score.
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Ronaldo scoring his second goal against Ireland in September. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
While Ronaldo was powering in the two late goals that denied Ireland in September, Fernandes had been sat on the bench since the 62nd minute. Though at least he had started the game; in Portugal’s last two matches at Euro 2020 he was introduced as a sub, having disappointed as a starter against Hungary and Germany.
Worker bees like Bernardo Silva and Renato Sanches fit the Santos’ plan more readily, though it may be of concern to Stephen Kenny and Ireland that Ronaldo and Fernandes’ best performance yet together came for Portugal in last month’s 5-0 defeat of Luxembourg, with Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick and Fernandes a goal and assist. That was the same Luxembourg who won in Dublin in March.
Jeff Hendrick and Jamie McGrath track Bruno Fernandes. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Barring issues of morale, Fernandes’ struggles in asserting himself for Portugal were not a problem for United until the club’s owners, ably assisted by Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand, pulled off the deal that returned a 36-year-old Ronaldo to Old Trafford.
“Never stop dreaming” read the tweet that conveyed Fernandes’ approval of the arrival of someone who happens to share his agent, Jorge Mendes, an older brother figure to Ronaldo.
Though perhaps that tweet cannot be taken as Fernandes’ deepest inner monologue considering that last weekend his account was caught celebrating Arsenal’s win over Wolves on behalf of Gabriel Martinelli.
“Everyone knows what Cristiano Ronaldo brought for the club and we are really happy to have him” came from Fernandes’ own lips, on camera following United’s 4-1 defeat of Newcastle on the occasion of Ronaldo’s second debut. Ronaldo had scored two and Fernandes one as a beaming Solskjaer declared that “good players can always play together”.
Fateful words considering the trajectory of United’s season since then, and not exactly borne out by football history. Or much of Ronaldo’s career. His time at Juventus saw serious talents like Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa fade in his wake. Gareth Bale might have won four Champions League medals at Real Madrid but never hit the heights of his Tottenham days.
The pair in Manchester United's colours. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
It is a long time since Ronaldo was operating telepathically with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez at United, and even then, that was a relationship built on the understanding of them providing the energy and him the magic.
At international level, symbiosis between stars is yet more difficult to achieve. An Englishman will groan when recalling repeated attempts to operate Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in tandem. Even successful international teams can contain disconnects.
Italy’s 2006 World Cup winners never quite saw Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero dazzle together, while France’s winners of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 contained Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane, two of the country’s greatest but who rarely seemed to play well at the same time.
Zidane supplied just one assist of Henry’s all-time record of 51 France goals, and that came against Brazil in 2006 World Cup quarter-final, two games from the end of Zizou’s Les Bleus’ career. It had been a failed spell at Juventus playing alongside Zidane that led Henry to Arsenal in 1999.
Henry and Zizou. REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo
REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
At least Ronaldo and Fernandes have already linked up for Manchester United goals, with Fernandes supplying the exquisite layup with which Ronaldo scored his first of two against Atalanta last week, and the outside-of-the-boot fade from where Ronaldo scored in September’s loss at Young Boys. But where Ronaldo continues to deliver goals, Fernandes has not scored for United since that second Ronaldo debut against Newcastle.
Fernandes is not alone in being overshadowed by someone he enjoys a friendship with off the field, recently ribbing Ronaldo for his Madeira accent: “you swear Portuguese people cannot understand what they say.”
He has not disappeared almost completely in the fashion of Jadon Sancho, an €85 million (£73m) signing rapidly heading towards the rejects section, but a loss of influence at United is apparent.
And for Ireland, the hope on Thursday is that Fernandes and Ronaldo can continue to show that good players will not necessarily always play well together.
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Ronaldo-Fernandes combination hasn't ignited for Portugal and Ireland will hope that continues
BRUNO FERNANDES WAS something of a late developer.
In Portugal, youth football has high prominence, going back to Luis Figo and Rui Costa forming part of a “golden generation” that won the 1991 World Youth Championship.
With exporting talent being a prime revenue stream for clubs, young players are swiftly championed, with each of Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon usually happy to push nascent talent.
Fernandes did not make his Portuguese Liga debut until he was nearly 23, having started in Italy with Novara before attracting the Pozzo family network of scouts at Udinese. His eventual path to Sporting Lisbon was rather different to other members of that club’s alumni, including Figo, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo himself.
It was a similar story with Portugal, where Fernando Santos, the long-standing international coach, did not reward Fernandes with a cap until he had become a Sporting player.
Santos, to whom Ronaldo is close, and has been floated as a possible stopgap appointment should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be given his cards at Manchester United, is the Portugal manager who has harnessed Ronaldo best, winning Euro 2016 and the 2019 Nations League by making the rest of the team work around a kingpin who runs at his choosing, as age and ego dictate.
Fernandes’ best football at United has been played when he can put his shoulder to the wheel wherever and whenever he sees fit. Fernandes is not averse to pressing, though his commitment is sporadic, often dictated by his mood. To a coach like Santos, that equals expendability when his team are already a man down on that score.
While Ronaldo was powering in the two late goals that denied Ireland in September, Fernandes had been sat on the bench since the 62nd minute. Though at least he had started the game; in Portugal’s last two matches at Euro 2020 he was introduced as a sub, having disappointed as a starter against Hungary and Germany.
Worker bees like Bernardo Silva and Renato Sanches fit the Santos’ plan more readily, though it may be of concern to Stephen Kenny and Ireland that Ronaldo and Fernandes’ best performance yet together came for Portugal in last month’s 5-0 defeat of Luxembourg, with Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick and Fernandes a goal and assist. That was the same Luxembourg who won in Dublin in March.
Barring issues of morale, Fernandes’ struggles in asserting himself for Portugal were not a problem for United until the club’s owners, ably assisted by Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand, pulled off the deal that returned a 36-year-old Ronaldo to Old Trafford.
“Never stop dreaming” read the tweet that conveyed Fernandes’ approval of the arrival of someone who happens to share his agent, Jorge Mendes, an older brother figure to Ronaldo.
“Everyone knows what Cristiano Ronaldo brought for the club and we are really happy to have him” came from Fernandes’ own lips, on camera following United’s 4-1 defeat of Newcastle on the occasion of Ronaldo’s second debut. Ronaldo had scored two and Fernandes one as a beaming Solskjaer declared that “good players can always play together”.
Fateful words considering the trajectory of United’s season since then, and not exactly borne out by football history. Or much of Ronaldo’s career. His time at Juventus saw serious talents like Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa fade in his wake. Gareth Bale might have won four Champions League medals at Real Madrid but never hit the heights of his Tottenham days.
It is a long time since Ronaldo was operating telepathically with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez at United, and even then, that was a relationship built on the understanding of them providing the energy and him the magic.
At international level, symbiosis between stars is yet more difficult to achieve. An Englishman will groan when recalling repeated attempts to operate Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in tandem. Even successful international teams can contain disconnects.
Italy’s 2006 World Cup winners never quite saw Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero dazzle together, while France’s winners of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 contained Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane, two of the country’s greatest but who rarely seemed to play well at the same time.
Zidane supplied just one assist of Henry’s all-time record of 51 France goals, and that came against Brazil in 2006 World Cup quarter-final, two games from the end of Zizou’s Les Bleus’ career. It had been a failed spell at Juventus playing alongside Zidane that led Henry to Arsenal in 1999.
At least Ronaldo and Fernandes have already linked up for Manchester United goals, with Fernandes supplying the exquisite layup with which Ronaldo scored his first of two against Atalanta last week, and the outside-of-the-boot fade from where Ronaldo scored in September’s loss at Young Boys. But where Ronaldo continues to deliver goals, Fernandes has not scored for United since that second Ronaldo debut against Newcastle.
Fernandes is not alone in being overshadowed by someone he enjoys a friendship with off the field, recently ribbing Ronaldo for his Madeira accent: “you swear Portuguese people cannot understand what they say.”
He has not disappeared almost completely in the fashion of Jadon Sancho, an €85 million (£73m) signing rapidly heading towards the rejects section, but a loss of influence at United is apparent.
And for Ireland, the hope on Thursday is that Fernandes and Ronaldo can continue to show that good players will not necessarily always play well together.
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Bruno Fernandes clubmates Cristiano Ronaldo John Brewin Ireland Republic Portugal