Highlights
- Fulham’s TikTok video mocking Bruno Fernandes was deemed “totally out of order” by Erik ten Hag, who called for an apology.
- Ten Hag believes that teams are targeting Fernandes for injury due to his creativity and impact on the field, calling for more protection.
- TikTok has become a platform for clubs to post controversial content, with Napoli facing backlash after a video mocking Osimhen missing a penalty earlier on in the season.
Erik ten Hag has called out fellow Premier League outfit Fulham for posting a video to TikTok appearing to mock Bruno Fernandes with the Dutchman claiming that the post was “totally out of order” and even demanded an apology. Marco Silva’s men ran out 2-1 victors courtesy of a last-minute winner from Alex Iwobi but still felt the need to – perhaps in jest – make a sly dig at Fernandes.
Following the London club’s 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, Fulham took to social media to post footage of Fernandes writhing on the turf after a challenge from Sasa Lukic. Captioned “So glad he’s ok…” with an eye roll emoji, the Craven Cottage outfit are quite evidently mocking the Manchester United skipper.
As such, when quizzed about whether he had been made aware of Fulham’s post on Thursday, Ten Hag first admitted that any sort of snide social media activity was unbeknownst to him. Once up to date with their recent opponents’ post-match antics, the former Ajax chief called for them to apologise, via The Athletic.
“I didn’t know this, but if they did it is not right, absolutely not right for a club to make such a statement, totally out of order, wrong. They should apologise for this.”
Ten Hag believes teams are targeting Fernandes
‘I feel like the referee should protect him there’
Ten Hag’s side are under the assumption that Lukic’s challenge on Fernandes is the main cause of the once-in-a-blue-moon injury that the Portuguese has faced since. While his on-field petulance is his downfall, his chance creation is rivalled by few – and without him in the side, the Red Devils would suffer greatly.
|
Premier League players – most chances creates across all competitions |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Player (Club) |
Chances created from open play |
Chances created from set play |
Total |
|
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) |
68 |
28 |
96 |
|
Pascal Gross (Brighton) |
55 |
36 |
91 |
|
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) |
60 |
22 |
82 |
|
Julian Alvarez |
54 |
28 |
82 |
|
Phil Foden |
72 |
8 |
80 |
However, Ten Hag, in his post-Nottingham Forest press conference, mounted a staunch defence of Fernandes and revealed that he believes that opposition are specifically looking to injure the midfielder further.
“He (Fernandes) is a very passionate football player, very creative, he is creating the most chances in the Premier League, and you see opponents are targeting him, especially on Saturday after he’d had the knock. Then I feel the referee should protect him there. They had the chance already at the start of the game because it was so obvious they were looking for it.”
Luckily for those of an Old Trafford association, the midfielder was able to play the remainder of the domestic fixture against Fulham but Ten Hag admitted that there were doubts over his fitness ahead of their fifth-round FA Cup clash against Nottingham Forest.
For their tie against the Tricky Trees, Fernandes was able to see out the full game and even managed to provide a last-gasp assist for Casemiro’s late winner on the road. Asked whether Fernandes is guilty of simulation, the Dutchman believed that Lukic’s challenge was ‘definitely’ a foul.
“I thought on Saturday it was definitely a foul, and it was really misjudged from the media and social media, to blame him for that. Then opponents are targeting him. Then the referee should protect him because they were false on him. And even after the ball was kicked away.”
TikTok becoming a feeding ground for abuse
Victor Osimhen was set to take legal action
Back in September 2023, Napoli found themselves in hot water after controversially posting a video – without Victor Osimhen’s permission – of the Nigerian striker missing a penalty. So much so that the reputable Fabrizio Romano broke the news that he, alongside his agent Roberto Calenda, was debating whether to take legal action against the Serie A club after the post had been removed from their social media channels.
Osimhen had missed a penalty against Bologna – in a game which finished 0-0 – and his own club were inclined to quite blatantly mock their talisman – one of the best footballers in 2024 – on TikTok with a sped-up video with a high-pitched sound showing him fluff his chance from 12 yards out.
Victor Osimhen set to take legal action against Napoli after controversial video
Osimhen has now deleted every picture of him wearing a Napoli kit on his Instagram
No further information was released, so it can be assumed that Osimhen decided not to follow through with pressing charges against the Italian club – but one thing is for sure, clubs are making use of their social media accounts to mock their opponent or their own players in the new age of advanced technology and media output.
All statistics per
The Athletic
,
powered by
Opta
– correct as of 29/02/24
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