Bruno Fernandes was 'best player' in Man Utd's 4-1 win in Europa League, says Ten Hag

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag heaped praise on the "best player on the pitch" Bruno Fernandes after their win over Real Betis.

Ten Hag lauded Fernandes' display of "personality" as Manchester United produced a much improved performance following their humiliating 7-0 defeat at Liverpool FC.

After the nightmare game at Anfield in the Premier League last week, Fernandes, Manchester United's stand-in captain, was singled out with severe criticism, with a number of questions even raised over his role as one of the leaders at Old Trafford.

"He was the best player on the pitch and it showed his personality. He played in a little bit of a deeper role tonight, he was brilliant. He was a leader in playmaking from deep and controlling the rhythm of the game. He had a lot of good passes in between the lines and from there on we created a lot of chances," Ten Hag told reporters on Thursday.

Happy to see Bruno score against Betis, says Ten Hag

Fernandes was one of the scorers for the Red Devils as his side clinched a comfortable 4-1 win in their Round of 16 first leg game in the Europa League.

"He led the team from the first minute by his game, with possession, make the rhythm of the game and scored a goal so I'm happy," added Ten Hag.

The other goals of Manchester United were scored by Marcus Rashford, Antony, and Wout Weghorst.

The defeat against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool was Manchester United's just third loss in the 2022-23 Premier League, after their hammerings at Brentford and Manchester City at the beginning of the campaign.

"It's not about ignoring [Sunday's game], we made mistakes and we got hammered for that. We didn't control the standards we have. If you could say we showed complacency, you can never do that in top football. In the weeks before [the Liverpool defeat] I was not happy with the performance against Newcastle, and I was not happy against Leicester with the performance in the first half.

"Sometimes you need a bad result to open everyone's eyes first," Ten Hag said further.

Meanwhile, the Dutch boss went with the same starting XI against Betis from their loss in Merseyside, and Ten Hag admitted that he stuck with the same team in a bid to keep the side motivated and offer them a chance to redeem themselves.

"It was, but I thought it was the best line-up when I saw Betis. We have played 23 games in a row with one loss, and even though the 24th was a huge defeat you cannot ignore the 22 games before where this team has played very well," said Ten Hag.

Manchester United have already won a trophy this season – League Cup, where they defeated Newcastle United in the final. It was the Red Devils' first silverware since the 2016-17 season. The Red Devils are alive in the FA Cup and the Europa League, while they are placed third in the Premier League table with 49 points, 14 behind leaders Arsenal.