Bruno Fernandes admits Manchester United “did everything wrong” in a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir that has knocked them another step backwards and piled pressure on beleaguered boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Red Devils headed to Turkey looking to build on a faultless opening to their 2020-21 campaign in Europe that had already seen them claim the notable scalps of Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.
Inconsistency remains a serious issue for Solskjaer’s side, though, and familiar failings contributed to them leaving gaping holes at the back for Basaksehir to exploit.
United also struggled to find a spark going forward, firing in just two shots on target, and are now having to pick the bones out of another demoralising showing that has questions being asked of the direction in which the club are heading.
Fernandes concedes that they fell well short of expectations in their latest outing, telling MUTV: “Everything goes wrong, we did everything wrong.
“The intensity was not good since the beginning of the game. They found a goal early and, after, the game was complicated for us. We tried until the end but the problem was [that] I think we came later into the game.
“We can do much better; everyone feels that.
“We know we can't concede goals like that, but now it's time to look [at] what we did wrong, to make it better in the next game.”
The Portuguese midfielder added: “We need to look: one week ago, everyone was talking about we're going well, we're doing amazing games.
“We won against Newcastle, we won against Paris, we beat Leipzig. We draw against Chelsea in one game when we can win.
“This game was important for us – winning the game to be comfortable in the table.
“Of course, making one or a few points again we [would have almost] passed (qualified from) the group. But now it's the same.
“We are in a good position. We need to do the same: going for every game, trying to win, and it will not be different in the Champions League.”
Things are not about to get any easier for United as their next Premier League fixture is set to take them to Goodison Park for a meeting with Everton.
Fernandes has acknowledged the need for standards to be raised in that contest, with the Red Devils heading to Merseyside sat 15th in the English top-flight standings and with just two wins to their name from six games so far.
“Of course, in the league we are not in a good position – we all know that,” said Fernandes.
“We need to do much better, and we need to do something more than say ‘do something in the next game’ because it will be a difficult game for us. Our focus now needs to be already there.”