23/12/2025

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TUESDAY | DEC 23, 2025

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“S TRANGE,” said Ruben Amorim. And if there have been plenty of odd developments at Manchester United in recent years, this may have been the weirdest. United will be shorn of the man who was captain, ever-present, set piece specialist, penalty taker, invariably top of the assist charts, sometimes the top scorer and fre quently the greatest source of salva tion when they were losing. Apart from that, though, what does Fernandes do for the Red Devils? Fernandes was injured and this just does not happen. Almost six years since his arrival, the United captain has missed exactly two games with injury. That number is set to rise, possibly dramatically. Amorim fears Fernandes will be out for “a while” after the United cap tain was injured during yesterday’s 2 1 defeat against Aston Villa. Fernandes has started every Premier League game this season, but the Portugal midfielder is unlikely to extend that run any fur ther following his injury setback at Villa Park. The 31-year-old initially played on after pulling up with what appeared to be a hamstring issue just before the break, but he did not return for the second half. Amorim ruled his influential star out of the Boxing Day clash against Newcastle, with severe doubts about his availability for the rest of the Christmas and New Year schedule. “It’s a soft tissue. I think he’s going to lose some games. I don’t know for sure, so let’s see,” Amorim said. “You never control these things, so we’ll see. He is a guy who is always fit so he can recover quite well, but I don’t know.”

How to replace Fernandes? Amorim fears United set to be without their captain and talisman for up to a month, it’s as if it never occurred to the club that the Portugese might get injured

and try to do everything in urgency and make mistakes and then ‘here we go again’ with a lot of mistakes. “I’m not going to say ‘we need a lot of players’ because we have a plan. If we have to suffer, the club comes first. “Of course, we are in a moment where we need points, but we need to find solutions and we are going to continue with our plan.” Yet there was something horribly damning about finishing the defeat to Villa with a midfield double act of defender Lisandro Martinez and 18 year-old Jack Fletcher; it was as if Sir Alex Ferguson had paired Gary Pallister with Paddy Crerand’s son in the heart of the team. Indeed, Ferguson did once try Rafael da Silva and Ji-sung Park there; United duly lost at Old Trafford to Steve Kean’s Blackburn. If Martinez and Fletcher were scarcely the new Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, that is scarcely their fault. The teenager brought energy. The Argentinian was at least better in pos session than Ugarte. But it was an indication of a dynamic at Old Trafford: how can United have spent so much and yet seem to have so few players? Some £900 million (RM4.9 billion) has been paid in fees since Erik ten Hag’s arrival but the only central midfielders bought are Ugarte and Casemiro. Meanwhile, Scott the following year. More than ever, United’s recruit ment – or lack of it – in midfield looks negligent. There was interest in Carlos Baleba last summer, but while Brighton were reluctant to sell, United prioritised the forward line. It is not revisionist thinking to say that, instead of spending £200 million (RM1.1 billion) on three attackers, they could have only bought two and instead signed a midfielder; espe cially if it entailed using Fernandes as a No. 10, arguably his best role. It is clear an overhaul is required: with Casemiro ageing and out of con tract, with Fernandes’ recent inter view in Portuguese reviving doubts about his future. Yet the situation in the immediacy reflects badly on United’s planning. Amorim made the right noises, talk ing of offering “no excuses”. Whether or not long-term gain comes, there could be short-term pain. “If we have to suffer, the club comes first,” he said. A manager whose tactics can often be too inflexible may have to adapt, compromise and improvise. But the danger is, that without Fernandes, United find themselves in a midfield mess of their own making. – AFP/The Independent McTominay was sold to Napoli and become a Ballon d’Or nominee. Marcel Sabitzer, who United loaned but did not buy in 2023, went on to be named in the team of the Champions League

when he is not on the pitch and have not won without him starting since March. This, it is safe to say, is not a failsafe strategy. United will be without Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui, who are at the Africa Cup of Nations and Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire are also sidelined. So if Fernandes has spent years making a valiant attempt to camou flage United’s failings and compen sate for their deficiencies, they could be very apparent in the next few weeks. United’s selection crisis has raised questions about the potential for new signings during the January transfer window, but Amorim won’t panic. “We need to deal with that,” he said. “What we cannot do is to reach January

Mainoo had dominated the build up to Sunday’s game after his half brother wore a “Free Kobbie Mainoo” t-shirt to last week’s 4-4 draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford. Mainoo would have been in con tention to make his first Premier League start of the season against Newcastle, but instead he is set to miss out. “I will see what we are going to do,” Amorim said. “I think Kobbie Mainoo is out, Bruno is out, so we will see. We are going to find solutions. No excuses. “We need to win the next game and we will try to win the next game.” Even beyond Fernandes, United have an acute reliance on Casemiro: he will turn 34 in two months, cannot complete 90 minutes even when they only play once a week and has a habit of getting suspended. They concede goals far more often

The chances are that it never occurred to the club that Fernandes might get injured. The composition of the midfield in their squad sug gested as much. They never replaced Christian Eriksen when he left. They spent £230 million (RM1.26 billion) on players in the summer, none of them midfield ers. They entered the season with only four senior specialist central midfielders. Of those, Amorim clearly does not trust Kobbie Mainoo, who is still yet to start a league game this season; his own ill-timed calf injury could deny him the chance to replace Fernandes against Newcastle on Boxing Day. Then there is Manuel Ugarte, who may be the worst passer of a ball of any United cen tral mid fielder in decades.

Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana (left) fouls Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes during their English Premier League match at Villa Park yesterday. – AFPPIC

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