Penalty merchant this, purple patch player that, rival fans have come up with a host of labels for Bruno Fernandes. Being absolutely reviled by rival fans, though, is more often a barometer of the tremendous impact a player has on the pitch.

At the London Stadium over the weekend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opted to leave Bruno Fernandes on the bench for the first 45 minutes, with one eye on a crucial meeting with RB Leipzig in the Champions League. In those 45 minutes, the Red Devils were put to the sword by West Ham as they found themselves trailing.

With his hand forced by the Hammers, Solskjaer brought on Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford at half-time, United's most productive partnership this season. The rest, quite literally, became a part of history.

Bruno Fernandes created 8 (!!!) chances - a Premier League record - after coming on, propelling United to a 3-1 win as fans graced the London Stadium for the first time since the pandemic took centre stage. With his assist for Paul Pogba's equaliser, the Portuguese playmaker has now been directly involved in 36 goals in his 38 games for the Red Devils in all competitions, racking up 22 goals and 14 assists since February. He has also created the most chances (35) in Europe's top five leagues this season despite playing one game less than most teams in the Premier League.

His per 90 stats illustrate just how much responsibility he has taken on since making the switch from Sporting Lisbon. The jump up from Portugal's top flight to arguably the toughest league in Europe should have diminished his output, with an emphasis on the should have.

From averaging 0.88 goals and assists per 90 minutes in his final season at Sporting, Bruno Fernandes' numbers have shot up to 1.25 goals + assists in the Premier League (StatsBomb data via Fbref). A non-penalty expected goals + expected assists figure of 0.66 per 90 in the Premier League this season means three points for Man United begin and end with the Portuguese.

The numbers do more than enough justice to Fernandes' gargantuan impact at the club but what makes the Bruno package more complete is his work off the ball. Triggering the press more often than not, the Red Devils' No 18 plays as an out-and-out attacking midfielder but is currently averaging 1.9 tackles per game, the same as Scott McTominay, a defensive midfielder.

StatsBomb's data on successful pressure percentage (percentage of time a team gains possession within 5 seconds of applying pressure) sees Man United sit 6th in the division at 31.3%, just below Man City (31.7%) and Liverpool (31.8%). Bruno Fernandes himself has pressed the opposition 167 times this season, the highest in the squad and 25th in the Premier League.

Which brings us to the dark cloud part of the silver lining from Portugal. Minus Bruno Fernandes, Man United looked utterly short of ideas and urgency at West Ham this weekend. Solskjaer himself has admitted he plays the Portugal international far too often. "Bruno is very important for us and if the game's won at half-time or after 60 then it's easier to rest him," Solskjaer said at the end of November. The problem is, Man United's wins are turning more and more into the comeback kind, leaving little to no wiggle room for Fernandes to rest.

With Donny van de Beek still settling in (the perfect player to have in this situation) and Paul Pogba already having one foot out the exit door according to his agent (at this point, Mino Raiola is clearly one of The Sopranos), Solskjaer is left with no option but to play Bruno Fernandes every game. He will, however, need to come up with alternate solutions should the injury bug bite the squad. Man City were without Kevin De Bruyne for a large chunk of the 2018-19 season and still ended up with 98 points in arguably the tightest title race in Premier League history.

What Man United managed before the Bruno Fernandes panacea was not quite abysmal, but it wasn't pretty either. What the Red Devils now need is consistency with and without the £47m man. With Fernandes off the pitch, United's creativity gets shot to bits and a lethargy creeps into their play. The Portugal international has a way of lifting the quality of those around him but the Red Devils also have a way of clinging onto inconsistency themselves. Unless and until Solskjaer moves away from the break-Bruno-glass approach, Man United will be left hostages to fortune.

Illustration: Zayceeann Alvares