Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand believes Bruno Fernandes should give up penalty-taking duties following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, the BT Sport pundit believes that Fernandes should be retained on both free-kicks and corners so the two Portuguese stars can share responsibilities:
“I think Bruno gives up the penalties but doesn’t relinquish free-kicks and corners – unless he doesn’t take corners. Free-kicks around the box, he’s going to be on them I think. I think he will be. His record demands that he should do that. I think he [Ronaldo] takes the penalties, 100 percent, they agree to give him the penalties, but free-kicks around the box I think Bruno is wiping the ball down and taking it from there.”
“Bruno sees the bigger picture; ‘This guy can get us over the line to win trophies’. If that means his percentage of goal involvements goes down but gets his hands on a big trophy, I know that he would take that all day long.”
Ronaldo is the number one free-kick taker for Portugal, as he was for Real Madrid and Juventus, so it would be surprising if he gives up the role to Fernandes.
It will be interesting to see how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handles the situation from a man-management perspective.
Fernandes would probably be happy to cede responsibility to Ronaldo due to his fellow countryman being the senior man, but the 26-year-old has been a crucial playmaker for Solskjaer and taking set-pieces away from him could prove detrimental to performances.
As Ferdinand claims, some compromise will be needed in order to ensure both players are happy and can contribute their best to the team.
