Man Utd managed to end their forgetful and frankly horrific 24/25 with one of the most worthless wins you’ll ever see. Ruben’s Reds held out a 2-0 win over Aston Villa to sign off at Old Trafford in his first season in charge.
The manager gave a speech post-match in which he apologized for the terrible time over the last nine months, of which he’s been in charge for six. He added that “there are good days coming” which helped inspire those who heard it and end the season on some sort of positive and bring confidence ahead of what will be a mammoth 25/26.
But his words weren’t the only eye-opening comments after this pressure-less game. Skipper and fellow Portuguese Bruno Fernandes had some blunt comments that could describe why United managed to put in one of their better performances in a match that had little importance to us and why they’ve failed to do so throughout the campaign not least last week’s meek display in the 1-0 defeat in the Europa League final.
The final match of the season envoked a lot of confusion amongst the fans as United put in a pretty good display, particularly the first half. The question is why?
This isn't to say that the team shouldn't play well but it appears (and has been known for some time) that they turn up when they want to rather than all the time.
There's been some explanations as to why this might be the case but the captain probably hits the nail on the head:
"That was easy today to do that because there was no pressure on ourselves. We were not playing for anything in this game in particular" via The United Stand.
"There was no pressure." That is United's captain and best, more-experienced and highest-paid player saying that they can only perform when there is no pressure.
Update
Ruben and the team landed in Kuala Lampur last night with the manager and Mason Mount conducting the press conference ahead of United's two pre-season matches this week.
During this presser, Amorim reiterated this comment by Bruno saying that "The last [Aston Villa] game the team was without pressure, they performed quite well, everybody wants the ball, the team has different moments and in different moments Bruno [Fernandes] takes responsibility."
So both the manager and captain are saying that with little to no pressure, the skipper and team can perform at the level required to get us the performances and results we want to see.
That is an eye-opener if ever there was one. It's pretty much saying that these players cannot perform under the pressure and if that's the case, we need to move them on.
I like that the two of them have said this. For Amorim to see it soon after becoing manager is also an indication of just how bad these players are especially mentality wise.
GET THEM OUTTTTT!!!!!
That's just it, isn't it? These guys can play well when there's no pressure. Again, this was one of those explanations but to hear it from your captain is damning yet refreshing. As we've speculated but weren't sure whether this was the case, it's great to have some clarity on the problem especially coming from Bruno. To know that the captain feels as we fans do is something, for all the good it does.
But it makes sense. When the stakes are high, it's very rare that we actually perform. Somehow, we managed to win the League and FA Cup in the last two seasons but this campaign, when it truly mattered, we didn't even show up. And when you can't face the pressure at United, then you don't belong here.
There's been quite a few games where we've felt that we have no chance yet out of nowhere, United play like a house on fire. Liverpool at Anfield followed by Arsenal in the FA Cup were two of the best performances this season. Nobody expected us to get anything from those games yet we got a deserved draw at LFC and win at The Emirates. That was all down to effort and a mindset of wanting to give it everything.
It's also an indication that it's nothing to do with the manager's system of 3-4-2-1 which is what many have been complaining about. If it was the formation, we wouldn't show up in any game.
Bruno saying this is also throwing himself, his teammates and club under the bus. He too doesn't show up at times when we need him most; several of those players are just the same if not even worse; and for the club to be recruiting such players, it is a slight to them as well because what type of players have we been bringing in?
I also believe that this has been a culture problem over the last 12 years post-Sir Alex Ferguson in that we have this small, closed mentality. Those were the words of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He knows a thing or two about a strong mindset and he definitely didn't see that at United when he was here, 8 years ago!
Things have only gotten worse since then and we've brought in more players with such mentalities.
Even before Ruben Amorim's speech after the win over Villa, there were multiple players in that centre circle who were smiling, high-fiving and hugging each other almost as if we had a good season.
How they can appear so? I don't think some of them truly realize what they've achieved:
- Lowest-ever position in PL (15th)
- Lowest-ever points tally (42)
- No European football
- Losing to Spurs in a European final
And to top it all off, Liverpool won the league.
And they're high-fiving each other 🤦♂️. This is part of the reason why we've failed for so long. It really is all on the club because they hold all the power to change things but clearly, don't.
The captain saying this was obviously a good thing. This does put it all out there that we have players who are better off at the Evertons, West Hams and Wolves of this world rather than Man Utd. This quote could also put pressure onto his teammates to try and improve but we all know what pressure does to them.
Light switch FC.
What do you make of the skipper's quotes?
Bruno Fernandes believes Man Utd turn on the style when the pressure is off | Bruno Fernandes: Creator: George Wood | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2025 Getty Images via Goal