Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained his decision to drop midfielder Bruno Fernandes for yesterday’s defeat to Leicester City.
Solskjaer made a few changes to his starting XI at the King Power Stadium, and leaving star player Fernandes out looked a particular gamble from the Red Devils boss.
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In the end, it seems this gamble didn’t pay off as United were poor and lost 3-1 to Leicester, getting dumped out of the FA Cup and missing out on a semi-final place.
Man Utd probably could have done with a key player like Fernandes starting such a big game, but Solskjaer insists the Portugal international is not super-human and is tired after playing so many games for the club this season.
The games have been coming thick and fast for United, with the team in action against AC Milan in the Europa League just a few days earlier.
Still, given the importance of this tie, we’re not sure MUFC fans will be entirely convinced by Solskjaer’s decision on Fernandes.
“Every team selection has reasons behind it,” Solskjaer said in his post-match press conference, as quoted by the Metro.
“Bruno has played very, very much football. He broke all his records on Thursday night [at the San Siro] physically statistically, and the boy is not inhuman.
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“He’s also a human being, he’s played a game every three or four days really.
“It was a chance to start to both Donny [van de Beek] and Paul [Pogba]. The accumulation of games maybe caught up with us.
“I know Bruno wants to play but sometimes you make decisions for the benefit of both the team and him.”