'You think it's going to be easy' - Bruno Fernandes makes surprise admission after Man Utd's shock Bournemouth defeat

Erik ten Hag's side learnt it the hard way on Saturday afternoon that nothing comes "easy" in the Premier League. The Red Devils headed into this fixture on the back of a 2-1 win over Chelsea in midweek and the United faithful were looking forward to another remarkable outing against the Cherries who were 16th-placed in the Premier League table before kick-off.

However, they were in for a disappointment as Dominik Solanke, Phillip Billing and Marco Senesi powered the visitors to an embarrassing 3-0 loss which was their 11th defeat of the season.

The United squad was booed off by the fans at full-time and the reaction could have been more scathing had they listened to Fernandes' post-match admission.

Talking to the broadcaster after the match, Fernandes said: "We lacked many things and that's why we didn't get the result today. Everything was lower than the levels in the game before and that's why when you play teams like Bournemouth, who are really aggressive and on the front foot, they press you, and you think it's going to be easy, you get these kinds of results.

"Everything was underperforming. Creativity, movement, and arriving with bodies into the box. Most of the time we arrived with one or two players, but in the last game we had more getting in the box to score a goal. Today, it was, as I said, underperforming. We just lack consistency and that's a big part of football. It's really important to be consistent every game and we're not being."

Fernandes had a lacklustre outing on an individual level as well. Not only did he fail to inspire United in attack, but the Portuguese also picked up a yellow card late in the game for complaining to referee Peter Bankes who put up no nonsense from the player. This was the fifth caution in the season which means he will have to sit out when United make the trip to Anfield next Sunday.

Jurgen Klopp's men are in a rich vein of form and are on a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions. They snatched a remarkable victory against Crystal Palace, thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Harvey Elliott, which propelled them to the top of the standings.

Fernandes has been an instrumental figure in Ten Hag's plans scoring five goals and setting up a further five across all competitions. He will be missed in midfield against Liverpool, which will be the first league match that he won't be playing since November 2022, when he was absent for a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, again due to a suspension.

Nonetheless, he can hardly afford to rest as United host Bayern in a must-win clash in the Champions League on Tuesday. They must beat the reigning Bundesliga champions to keep their hopes alive of progressing into the knockouts. However, they must also hope that Copenhagen and Galatasaray share the spoils in the other fixture at Parken Stadium.