Bruno Fernandes has revealed Erik ten Hag offers him brutal feedback after fierce criticism as the midfielder prepares to lead Manchester United out as captain for the FA Cup final.
Gary Neville and Roy Keane are amongst the high-profile pundits that have condemned some of Fernandes' actions this season. The 29-year-old was slammed following United's 7-0 defeat at Liverpool, with Neville branding the Portugal international as "disgraceful" after he appeared to push the linesman.
Keane also hit out at Fernandes for his behaviour at Anfield, but, despite that, Fernandes is expected to lead United out as the skipper at Wembley against Manchester City. Erik ten Hag's side are gunning for their second trophy of the season after winning the Carabao Cup back in February.
Fernandes has been one of Ten Hag's mainstays all season. When asked about his boss, Fernandes, said: "I'm aware that he's really happy with the way I train, the way I play, the way I show my emotions, the way I show my passion for the game. He knows I care, that's why probably sometimes it makes you do some things that you should not do.
"But he knows that I will never do nothing to make the team look bad, my team-mates look bad, or making something that is not good for the team. He knows that, so that's why it protects me. That's why he did that in that interview and many other times.
"Whenever he thinks that he has to say something that he didn't like to me, he has called me two or three times in his office and he 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. He always called the players to talk with them, he has a lot of individual meetings with the players.
"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 him to give you some back, so he can have his reasons to protect you."
United are aiming to beat City for the second time this season after the Red Devils came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory in the most recent outing at Old Trafford. Speaking about Pep Guardiola's side, he said: "I think they do a very good job. They play very good football, they deserve [the plaudits].
"Of course, I look at our opponents, I evaluate, but we look to ourselves and you have to see where you are as a club and from there on, you have to make progress and I think we did over the last season.
"We made very good progress, we are in a good direction and now we have the opportunity in the summer to make new targets, new goals in the short-term. But the longer term will stay the same. As I said last year, we want to restore Man United but we have a way to go."
