Manchester United January signing given a major new role
Manchester United have a new spot-kick taker in their house.
Sometimes it helps teams win matches, and sometimes it becomes the villain. From the very inception of the game of football, the introduction of penalties has had played a major role in deciding a worthy winner.
Whenever a knock-out game ends with a frustrating 0-0 scoreline, penalty shootouts come up with some entertainment for the audience. Some times a boring match gets interesting owing to a well-taken penalty.
And it has been an abundance of penalties that helped Manchester United garner some crucial points this season. It was a well-struck Marcus Rashford penalty that helped United put all the three points in their bag in a nervy 1-0 victory over Leicester City at Old Trafford last October – a moment of magic changed the result.
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Furthermore, this season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United have had drawn the most numbers of penalties (10) in the Premier League. though, they have not come out successful every time. From 10 given penalties, they have scored only 6 times in the English top division.
For United, Rashford has taken the most number of penalties (7) this season, registering only five from them, while Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba have missed their only-taken penalties this season in the PL.
Considering Manchester United’s forwards’ stormy legs, it would not be too harsh to say that more penalties are on the way. And some might be decisive. With Premier League returning this week, Manchester United management is reportedly planning on assigning some roles new to their new arrivals.
And one of the many is likely to be Manchester United’s new penalty-taker. Even though Marcus Rashford’s records from the spot-kicks have been prolific, Ole Gunnar Solskjer wants more stability and composure from his no.1 penalty taker.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Bruno Fernandes is leading the line to become United’s next first-choice penalty taker. An initial deal of £47 million saw United secure the Portuguese’s services during the January transfer window.
Since making the ‘dream’ move to the red side of Manchester, Fernandes has single-handedly made a drastic change in United’s overall performances. He has seemingly become a hero in the eyes of the fans, having racked up 2 goals and 3 assists from 5 Premier League appearances.
While, according to Transfermarkt, Marcus Rashford possesses a success ratio of 71.4 % in taking penalties, his newly-joined Portuguese teammate has converted both of his penalties, keeping a success rate of 100%.
Although, Marcus has taken more spot-kicks than Fernandes. And when you take more, the chances of failure, in this case, gets bigger with each attempt. However, Bruno Fernandes’ penalty-taking technique is very unusual to others what also makes him very unpredictable while placing the ball towards the target.
A Chelsea midfielder Jorginho-esque little hop before taking the final kick on the ball has been a lethal asset for Fernandes. And it feels as if the midfield sensation has seized his name at the top of United’s penalty-takers list.
United are going to resume their Premier League campaign with an away game to Tottenham Hotspur next Friday.
Do you agree with United’s decision to make Fernandes the team’s no. 1 penalty taker?