Manchester United's return to the Premier League after the FIFA World Cup was meritorious after the Erik Ten Hag-led side beat relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest 3-0 in their home stadium of Old Trafford on Tuesday (December 28) morning. It was also their first match after Cristiano Ronaldo left the club, and the side looked free of a big burden and played some exciting football.
Ronaldo mutually terminated his contract after an explosive interview before the World Cup eliminated a future with the Red Devils. Without his apparent negativity looming over their heads, Marcus Rashford led the line and was their main orchestrator in attack, scoring the first and assisting the second goal.
But creating the chances fell to their midfield maestro Bruno Fernandes, who has been asked to take over the team leader role in the squad after the departure of his fellow Portuguese mate, by former French defender and United legend Patrice Evra.
"Bruno Fernandes has to be the main man and you can feel it now Ronaldo is not here anymore and you can feel that he is the boss again," Evra told Amazon Prime Video after United’s win over Forest. "He is the one taking the freekicks, the one taking the corner kicks and I am sorry, that is what Bruno Fernandes needs."
Ronaldo first joined Manchester United as a young, 18-year-old forward in 2003 and left the club a star in 2009, having won the Premier League and Champions League titles with the Red Devils. Upon his return almost 11 years later, he was a shade of his former self but was unable to cope with being left out of the side.
Revealing a previous conversation with Bruno, Evra recalled that he asked the midfield if Ronaldo stopped him from his best form, but Bruno refused to give a straightforward answer. "I remember when I talked with him after a game and he didn’t want to say that because he would be like ‘I can’t play with every player’, but you can’t have two chefs as they say in French, and that’s what happened so I am not surprised about the performance of Bruno Fernandes."
Manchester United's next challenge is against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, December 31, with their win over Nottingham moving the side to fifth on the points table.