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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

Thierry Henry singles out four Man Utd players who deserve credit this season

It has not been a memorable season so far for Manchester United.

There were high hopes for the Red Devils after finishing second in the Premier League last season and splashing the cash to land Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane in the summer.

But their title race was over before it began resulting in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer getting the sack and Ralf Rangnick being named interim replacement last month.

Ahead of the visit of Burnley to Old Trafford on Thursday night, United were unbeaten under their new German manager but looked unconvincing in the process.

Numerous big-name stars have underperformed in the famous red shirt this season - and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry reckons only four players can take credit for their performances.

Speaking on Amazon Prime Video ahead of the game, Henry was asked who could take credit, alongside David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Join the debate! Which Man Utd players do you believe can take credit from this season? Have your say here.

Thierry Henry believes De Gea, Ronaldo, Fred and Fernandes are the four Man Utd players who can take credit from this season (Amazon Prime Video)

Man Utd 3-1 Burnley: 5 talking points as Ralf Rangnick's side end 2021 with win

“Still, I think, Bruno Fernandes can be in there," Henry said, despite some questions over the playmaker's form in recent weeks.

Fred, for me, has been finally reaching the level that people were expecting him to reach in recent matches," he added.

It is goalkeeper De Gea, however, that Henry believes deserves the most credit so far for his performances to enable Ronaldo's match-winning heroics.

“But I’m going to have to stay with De Gea," he concluded.

"I know people are talking a lot about Ronaldo and scoring goals at the end of the game to win games.

“But De Gea puts them in those positions, those situations for Ronaldo to be able to win them the game at the end."

Despite being two of their top performers last season, Fernandes and Ronaldo came in for criticism from United legend Gary Neville after their draw with Newcastle at the weekend.

But Henry defended the pair and insisted they should not shoulder all the responsibility for below-par team performances as he pointed to other under-performing players.

"As always, it should be the team," Henry said.

"I don’t think it’s right when a player at the end is singled out because he makes the team win the game.

Henry defended Ronaldo and Fernandes after they faced criticism last week (Action Images via Reuters)

"I think it has to be a team effort and a lot of people, for me, are getting away with you know what, and I won’t say because some might take it the wrong way, but it’s a bit too much at times.

"It’s too easy to attack Ronaldo, it’s too easy to attack Bruno Fernandes - the guys that are delivering.

"When you see the numbers, Sancho, Martial and Rashford have less goals than Cornet for Burnley, a team that is not often on the ball. A team not really dominating games."

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