Bruno - could he be our most important signing since Cantona?

If it coincides with us winning trophies every year and being at least a constant in the Champions League again whilst guiding the young players coming through to reach their full potential then yes.

We’re definitely seeing a fantastic start to his United career and I’m sure I read on here yesterday that since Fernandes signed we’ve got the best form in the league ? He’s certainly getting the best out of Pogba, Rashford and Martial.
 
Not only for his individual record but how the team has instantly improved since he joined, I genuinely don't remember a team transforming like that practically over night with 1 signing. The old saying "1 player doesn't make a difference" is well in truly in the mud.
 
I would say that the signing of a future Ballon d'Or might have been forgotten.
 
It’s has to be a catalyst that results in something to successfully make the comparison.

Yes, he’s led us to a significant turn around in form but we need to be winning trophies for it to mean anything.
 
He’s certainly got a very cantona-esque feel to him in that he’s been the spark that’s brought us to life. He also brings some badly needed leadership to the team.
 
he has had an amazing impact - even Pogs and Martial have started to look interested
 
I surely hope so, but don't want to expect too much or put too much pressure on him.
At the minute he's looking as one of our best signings, hopefully he carries on the same level or even better
 
Most important signing since Cantona was Ronaldo. Remember him??
However Bruno would be next on my list.
 
Stack said:
Most important signing since Cantona was Ronaldo. Remember him??
However Bruno would be next on my list.
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No OP actually has a point here. Ronaldo was the BEST signing, but Cantona was the most important signing since he lifted the team to another level. Ronaldo joined a team that was already bossing and made it significantly better. Bruno appears to fit the bill for a Cantona impact, but it's early days still.
 
Tom Cato said:
No OP actually has a point here. Ronaldo was the BEST signing, but Cantona was the most important signing since he lifted the team to another level. Ronaldo joined a team that was already bossing and made it significantly better. Bruno appears to fit the bill for a Cantona impact, but it's early days still.
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We weren’t particularly bossing. We won the title the previous season, but mostly cause Arsenal decided to burn a 10+ point advantage. And Madrid kinda toyed with us in Europe.

We actually won an FA Cup and a Carling Cup in the first 3 seasons of Ronaldo, while not getting close to the two main trophies.

Agree with your other part though.
 
He's a very good signing and a good player. Definitely a big improvement in that creative area. So it's not to say I'd like to overlook his impact but everyone seems to be ignoring lots of other factors.

- The return from injury of Pogba and Rashford
- The improvement in Fred and McTominay
- The resurrection of Matic
- The maturing of Greenwood
- The performances of Rashford before he got injured
- The improvement in Martial as he's settled into the number 9 role
- The development of the team in terms of coaching

It's become standard to say omg look how good we've become since Bruno arrived when in reality the improvement had been bubbling away under the surface and Bruno's arrival has complemented it.
 
I’ve been surprised by Bruno I have to admit. Although you would clearly be hard pressed to find anyone who thought he would have this impact.

it’s not necessarily what he does as an individual, it’s the impact he has in the team, and the fact he seems to make everyone else up their game. Take Pogba as an example, Pogba has been eased back in, and no longer has to try and do everything himself. As a result his performances have been more consistent and mature - because he’s able to allow Bruno to take some of that strain.

Rarely have you sen any player, for any club have such an impact coming in January.

we still have positions we need to improve on, but he almost feels like that missing piece of the jigsaw.
 
Bruno has been a great addition so far, no doubt about that. But I don't think it is fair to the contributions and development of the other players if this current play is attributed just to him. Over the season we saw the team slowly improving and showing tangible signs, especially in big games, as Martial, Rashford, Fred, etc. elevated their games. The team just struggled with injuries this year and the depth wasn't there to maintain consistency. How many games of the first team we saw beat Chelsea to open did we see on the field this year? That was also a team where Greenwood wasn't as featured.

What we are seeing now is a byproduct of the development and growth we were seeing in the young players all year + Bruno who has been great + getting back Rashford and Pogba. Depth is still a concern as we saw in the play against the Spurs a couple weeks ago with Greenwood and Pogba on the bench most of the game.
 
To look at him you wouldn’t really think of him (or anyone tbh) as having the same talismanic qualities as Cantona but he does appear to have brought the whole squad back to life.
 
JPRouve said:
I would say that the signing of a future Ballon d'Or might have been forgotten.
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Yes, I did forget about him to be honest :nervous:, maybe because I think of him more as a Real Madrid legend than ours - we had him in the (brilliant) formative stages of his career.

However, you could argue that whereas Cantona was the catalyst in getting us to the top, Ronaldo more kept us there. Maybe Bruno could do another Cantona for us.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
Yes, I did forget about him to be honest :nervous:, maybe because I think of him more as a Real Madrid legend than ours - we had him in the (brilliant) formative stages of his career.

However, you could argue that whereas Cantona was the catalyst in getting us to the top, Ronaldo more kept us there. Maybe Bruno could do another Cantona for us.
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No, you couldn't argue that because Ronaldo was signed during our 2000s rebuild and we weren't the best team in Europe, we weren't even close at the time. He, alongside Rooney, allowed us to become the best once again.
 
Stat:

Bruno Fernandes (six goals, five assists) has surpassed 10 goal involvements in his ninth Premier League appearance for Man Utd, making him the joint-quickest to 10 goals and assists combined of any player for the club in the competition, alongside Eric Cantona and Robin van Persie. Talisman.

In the best company.
Can be a super legend for us!
 
JPRouve said:
No, you couldn't argue that because Ronaldo was signed during our 2000s rebuild and we weren't the best team in Europe, we weren't even close at the time. He, alongside Rooney, allowed us to become the best once again.
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Given that we’d won the Title four out of five seasons before we signed Ronaldo I’d say my point was fair.
 
I think two things. One is that, he's like a sign post pointing you in the direction you need to be going in. Two is that, he's playing like Cantona. Though I think Eric would have scored with that first chance yesterday. His goal threat is really interesting. We don't know his potential. If I said 20 goals? I think a lot of people would think that's possible. Which is amazing when you consider this United team. I don't know if he will drop off and suddenly concentrate on being a supplier. I just doubt and even thinking back to when we had Scholes and Keane....when you factor in Pogba it's difficult to know what to expect and that's the amazing thing. He does need to improve on his corner taking however. His free kicks are more effective but it seems our corners will suck forever
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
Given that we’d won the Title four out of five seasons before we signed Ronaldo I’d say my point was fair.
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I can feel that we are going nowhere, so you are right and I'm wrong.
 
He will have played 13-14 League games when the season ends - and it would still be impossible to leave him out of the team of the season, thats how good he has been .

Bruno 9 matches - 6 goals 5 assists

Compare him to these players:

Firmino 32 matches - 8 goals 7 assists
D.Silva 22 matches - 4 goals 7 assists
Son 24 matches - 9 goals 9 assists
Traore 32 matches - 4 goals 9 assists
Mahrez 27 matches - 9 goals 8 assist

In 9 matches he has as many Points as David Silva has in 22 - he is 4 behind Firmino who has played 32 matches. He is 2 behind Traore who has played 32 matches.
 
Too early to say, but he has been our best signing for some time. It's crazy how one signing seems to have lifted the whole club. Long may it continue.
 
Best signing since RVP. Can’t place him above Robin yet as the latter came in and had the same sort of impact and almost singlehandedly won us the league.
 
I was underwhelmed when United signed him, but what a pleasant surprise!
In terms of impact, as good as RVP’s signing.
 
Timing is important....you need all the other pieces in place, or at least the vast majority. Cantona wouldn’t have had the same impact had he been signed in 1988. Similarly if you take Maguire, Bissaka away then I don’t think Bruno would have the same impact as we have a foundation now. Similarly we will have more success in the future keeping hold of Pogba, Greenwood, Rashford....Bruno will not be able to turn Lingard, Jones, Rojo, Scneiderlin, Young, Smalling etc into world beaters.

All that said he’s a fecking brilliant player.
 
RUCK4444 said:
Best signing since RVP. Can’t place him above Robin yet as the latter came in and had the same sort of impact and almost singlehandedly won us the league.
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Given our position before his arrival, seventh and falling, I'd say the signing of Bruno was our best since Cantona.
 
No.

But he's the best Man Utd signing since Van Persie.

The Pogba-Bruno-Martial connection is working.
 
Too early to say but there's no denying the shift in the team dynamics from the way we are playing to being unbeaten so far.
 
Striker10 said:
I think two things. One is that, he's like a sign post pointing you in the direction you need to be going in. Two is that, he's playing like Cantona. Though I think Eric would have scored with that first chance yesterday. His goal threat is really interesting. We don't know his potential. If I said 20 goals? I think a lot of people would think that's possible. Which is amazing when you consider this United team. I don't know if he will drop off and suddenly concentrate on being a supplier. I just doubt and even thinking back to when we had Scholes and Keane....when you factor in Pogba it's difficult to know what to expect and that's the amazing thing. He does need to improve on his corner taking however. His free kicks are more effective but it seems our corners will suck forever
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Think hes somebody that season after season can get 15+ goals and assists each, which is obviously fantastic totals from a midfielder. Yeah he's a #10 but he's the hardest working #10 you'll see, as we saw against Norwich in the cup, tracking way back in the last minute. Guy is just quality.
 
I like the fact that he takes focus and pressure off of Rashford, which could benefit the latter tremendously.
 
Van der Sar was our most important signing since Cantona.
 
bosnian_red said:
Think hes somebody that season after season can get 15+ goals and assists each, which is obviously fantastic totals from a midfielder. Yeah he's a #10 but he's the hardest working #10 you'll see, as we saw against Norwich in the cup, tracking way back in the last minute. Guy is just quality.
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Even yesterday so many times when Pogba was more ahead of the ball or our attack broke with Pogba ahead of the ball, he was always haring back to cover the side where Bournemouth were attacking.
 
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