Is it any wonder Bruno Fernandes is beginning to look leggy?

It was in the 55th minute that Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler addressed Bruno Fernandes’ attempt to press Crystal Palace’s back four. Fernandes is the lynchpin of this Manchester United team; not only their main creative hub but their first line of defence, often running ahead of his central position to lead their press and be the first line of attack. To Tyler, his work off the ball was his attempt to “drag his team upfield”.

But at a Selhurst Park full of foggy minds and weather, Fernandes’ defensive efforts on Wednesday night were easily bypassed as his team-mates failed to properly coalesce around him. While the home side lacked the necessary quality to truly trouble United, they did not have to do much defensive work to repel Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.

The 0-0 draw showed us two teams, deep in one of the most physically and mentally exhausting seasons ever, struggling to come up with ideas of how to win. And in the middle of everything stood Fernandes: one of the Premier League’s best creators, and the man typically responsible for coming up with United’s ideas, looking more ordinary than usual.

Fernandes’ raw numbers against Palace were reasonable: he had 77 touches of the ball, made 57 passes (with an accuracy of 84.2 per cent) and created four chances. Fernandes is an unusual player, often shunning traditional passing convention in favour of trying risky line-breaking balls.

He is one of the best accelerants in Europe and functions as the catalyst of his side. When United do not know what to do in attack, they defer to their Portuguese playmaker and his decision-making (which has good and bad side effects). It is a heavy physical and mental burden for one man to bear and after an impressive first 13 months in England playing like a man constantly running downhill, Fernandes is beginning to look leggy.

Fernandes has been in 96 per cent of United’s Premier League starting XIs this season and played 94 per cent of their minutes in it. Palace was his 40th game of the season in all competitions (United have played 42 in total) and after playing from start to finish against Palace, Fernandes reached 2,290 Premier League minutes, placing him in the top 20 for minutes played this season, and the top six when goalkeepers and defenders (the more ever-present positions) are removed.

Ashley Westwood	2421
Youri Tielemans	2368
Declan Rice	2340
James Ward-Prowse	2340
Tomas Soucek	2339
Bruno Fernandes	2289

As an attacking midfielder, who leads the press and is picked as often as he is, to put it bluntly, the fella is probably knackered. That could have troubling effects for United.

“Sometimes, it’s human nature, sometimes you don’t work at your best. Today, we didn’t,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “It’s been a long season, so that’s part of it, and you’re playing against a good team, which make you play the way you don’t want to.”

When United are good, they work the space available to them and defeat teams through quick passing and intelligent play. Their attack is unorthodox (for a club of their size) as Solskjaer hands a lot of initiative over to his attacking players to interpret their roles as they wish. This works for Fernandes, whose all-action, “get it forwards” style clarifies the confusing shapes and movement of the team around him.

United’s ascent to the top of the Premier League table in early January came about in part through Solskjaer’s use of Fernandes and Paul Pogba, empowering them to find a collection of mercurial forwards however they saw fit. United played strange football during their climb to first place, but in giving two of the most intelligent and creative midfielders around the freedom to go about games as they wished, Solskjaer had smartly steered into the skid of a difficult Christmas fixture list and came out the other side. That United have only won three of their 10 league games since going top by beating Burnley on January 12 suggests something has gone awry.

They have missed Pogba since he was injured against Everton on February 6. It has not only lowered the talent ceiling on any starting XI, but increased the burden on Fernandes. Without Pogba, United lack another central midfielder comfortable making line passes from deep (Nemanja Matic, Fred and Scott McTominay are all defense-first minded types). United have won only once in the league since Pogba’s injury, the 3-1 over Newcastle United which marked the last time they, and Fernandes, scored.

Fernandes was not exceptional (82 touches of the ball, 69 passes with an accuracy of 85.5 per cent and three chances created) in that match but he still managed an assist, getting a toe on the end of a Matic cross that somehow reached goalscorer Daniel James to make it 2-1, before converting a clinching penalty.

The midfielder appears to be playing a more specialised game, the horizontal runs left to right to aid his full-backs in build-up play not as apparent as he focuses less on that aspect and more on game-winning actions.

This is not to cast aspersions on Fernandes’ ability; it’s a sensible way to play — he cannot do everything and if Solskjaer is likely to pick him for every game, he needs to find ways to maximise his performances. And it looks as though Solskjaer will keep picking Fernandes, with injuries to Pogba, Donny van de Beek and Juan Mata leaving the manager short on options.

However, this was a third goalless draw in a row in all competitions since that Newcastle game, and United have now gone four hours without a goal. Fernandes, the star around which all their entities orbit, is beginning to falter and as such, their wider universe is beginning to dim.

“The tempo was missing, once in a while it happens. It wasn’t one of our best nights,” added Solskjaer. “(Palace opposite number) Roy Hodgson always sets his teams up to be really hard to play against and it showed again. We just have to find a spark again, the quality again and win the games.”

For more than a year, that spark has come from Fernandes, but Solskjaer will need something else when teams such as Palace seek to deny United the spaces in behind that Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, in particular, thrive on. Since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in late January last year, Fernandes has performed at superhuman levels with little in the way of rest and relaxation. Solskjaer has said how the midfielder not only plays football quickly but seems to recover from games at an accelerated rate. He has been this team’s safety blanket and demolition man, but there needs to be protection for their playmaker.

Although Solskjaer says he has not had a formal conversation with Fernandes on the matter, he is unlikely to let him go away on international duty with Portugal at the end of the month. The first reason for this would be to avoid the 10 days of isolation Fernandes would have to go through upon his return, but his second might be to use the break as an opportunity to give him some time off.

Solskjaer got through one challenge by keeping the football plan simple and asking his two creative playmakers to interpret their roles as they wished. Now, with one of them out injured and the other beginning to tire, the United manager will need to come up with a new idea.