Stand-in captain Bruno Fernandes admits that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been "really happy" with many aspects of his performances this season.
The Portuguese international, who joined United from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020, has been one of the Reds' most influential performers this season, racking up 58 appearances in all competitions. He has scored 13 goals and chipped in with a very respectable 15 assists, highlighting just how important he has been.
He has missed just three of Ten Hag's 61 matches in charge of United so far, each of which were because of yellow card suspensions. Taking into account his four appearances for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Saturday afternoon's FA Cup final against Manchester City is likely to mark the midfielder's 63rd appearance of the season for club and country.
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He has played more minutes than anyone else in Europe's top five leagues this season, yet he has continued to maintain high performance levels and play a key role in United's success this term. Fernandes, however, has admitted that Ten Hag, despite being pleased with his efforts, has had conversations with him throughout the season about his personal game and how specifics within it have had to be altered.
"I'm aware that he's really happy with the way I train, the way I play, the way I show my emotions and the way I show my passion for the game," Fernandes told the BBC. "He knows I care. That's why probably sometimes it makes you do some things that you should not do.
"But I will never do anything to make the team look bad, make my teammates look bad, or something that is not good for the team. He knows that, so that's why it protects me.
"I think that's good because he shows you the respect, he shows you the protection, but always with the demands behind that because obviously when you protect someone you want them to give you some back, so he can have his reasons to protect you.
"He has called me to his office two or three times and said 'look, we have to change this, we have to change this, I think you could do it in a different way'. We had many conversations this season."
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