The Manchester United captain is statistically one of the most creative players in the Premier League, and Ten Hag - the United coach - is happy to give a lot of creative freedom to his star player.

He told Sky Sports: "We have to give him support, give him the confidence to keep doing it.

"Because he is such a genius at giving that final pass."

Ten Hag also believes that it takes a lot of bravery to take so many risks with the ball.

He explained: "It demands a lot. Firstly, intelligence. But also personality when it goes wrong several times and you keep trying to do it."

Fernandes, 29, has been widely criticized for losing the ball too cheaply at times.

But Ten Hag is happy with how his captain approaches the game.

The United boss - who joined the Old Trafford club in 2022 - shared: "Of course, I wish that he could increase his pass completion but still affect the game in the same way with the key pass, the final pass. That is what he is aiming for.

"We have to help him. But a player of his age, and he is also the captain, sometimes he has to think in a strategic way that keeping the ball is also very important for a team to control the game."

Ten Hag has hailed the versatility of his captain, too.

He said: "Bruno can do it from many positions. He can do it from central positions but also he can do it from wide positions. Last season, we also experimented with him doing it from a deeper role. There also you could see that he could play very good passes, very constructive."