[Devil may care]

Great workrate but needs to slow down on the ball, this was always one of my concerns with him, when he's on he brings the sizzle but there's a lack of steak to his overall game if you want to control a football match, it's all or nothing with his passing. @Adnan suggested using him as a false 9 and I'd say it's worth a try given the state of Cavani and Ronaldo lately.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Feels like he has had about 5 truly good games in 18 months. He is a real problem now, and shouldn't be undroppable.

 

[Yagami]

This has been Bruno his ENTIRE time here.

Why are people acting like this is new?

He'd have endless games like this in his first two seasons but would score a penalty or one of his Hollywood balls would reach its intended target for an assist and his woeful general play would be overlooked.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Feels like he has had about 5 truly good games in 18 months. He is a real problem now, and shouldn't be undroppable.

Who do we drop him for? Mata?

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Who do we drop him for? Mata?

That's one of the major issues we have. Lingard hasn't been very good since he spat his dummy and Mata hasn't got the legs. The only other possibility is perhaps allow Pogba more freedom and put Fred back in. It's a problem.
At the same time, Bruno should be held accountable to his poor performances, as with the rest of the team.

 

[jem]

That's one of the major issues we have. Lingard hasn't been very good since he spat his dummy and Mata hasn't got the legs. The only other possibility is perhaps allow Pogba more freedom and put Fred back in. It's a problem.
At the same time, Bruno should be held accountable to his poor performances, as with the rest of the team.

It's getting to the point where I'd trade so-called legs for having a brain and a first touch. I'm not necessarily saying to drop Bruno for Mata, but I certainly feel this team could do with a touch of the Spaniard's guile from time to time.

 

[Adnan]

Great workrate but needs to slow down on the ball, this was always one of my concerns with him, when he's on he brings the sizzle but there's a lack of steak to his overall game if you want to control a football match, it's all or nothing with his passing. @Adnan suggested using him as a false 9 and I'd say it's worth a try given the state of Cavani and Ronaldo lately.

This team needs more composure in midfield mate, and having Bruno further forward with 3 capable midfielders behind him is the way to go imo. We don't control games in possession and bringing in a coach like Enrique or ETH can only be a good thing in that regard.

There's no control in possession hence we turn over possession far too often. And I'm not blaming Rangnick either because he's come in mid-season.

 

[lex talionis]

Had the great long ball to Rashford but was otherwise forgettable. Not bad, just not a factor in the game apart from the pass to Rashford.

 

[united for life]

Feels like he has had about 5 truly good games in 18 months. He is a real problem now, and shouldn't be undroppable.

bruno is a real problem? Not maguire? Not shaw? Not the right backs? Not fred? Not mctominay? Not marcus? Not everyone else?

im not saying he is perfect or undroppable, but he is not a problem for us. He might benefit from rotation every now and then, but I can not see how on earth we will he a better team with him out of the team. He is almost involved in every goal we score. There is a lot around him that needs fixing

 

[Ronaldo's Love Child]

I wonder sometimes if he is TOO influential when on the pitch for us.

Granted, his stats are better than most of his teammates but when he orchestrates where his team mates should be or what passes they should make then it winds me up as he's not exactly a tactical genius himself

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

bruno is a real problem? Not maguire? Not shaw? Not the right backs? Not fred? Not mctominay? Not marcus? Not everyone else?

im not saying he is perfect or undroppable, but he is bit a problem for us. He might benefit from rotation every now and then, but I can not see how on earth we will he a better team with him out of the team. He is almost involved in every goal we score. There is a lot around him that needs fixing

This is the Bruno thread. Of course those other players are problems as well. But aside from Maguire, the rest have been dropped or temporarily taken out of the side at times. Bruno is one of the 'undroppables' and that shouldn't be the case, as he has been pretty terrible for a long time now.

You have even just said he is a problem.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

It's getting to the point where I'd trade so-called legs for having a brain and a first touch. I'm not necessarily saying to drop Bruno for Mata, but I certainly feel this team could do with a touch of the Spaniard's guile from time to time.

Young Mata was 10 times a better player than Bruno. I think he is very overrated

 

[NZT-One]

The guy really starts to piss me off... Going full vertical all day is so fecking useless. Could've been redcarded for swinging out in an altercation, how idiotic can a player be? All this talking yadda yadda, all this supposed workrate, guy is as weak as Mata, showing effort with almost no end product in terms of actually stopping players.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Don't think him and Ronaldo play well together at all. Bruno has almost carried us into the CL two seasons running and Ronaldo coming back seems to have hampered his game.

Bit of a joke really but the same thing happens for Portugal too.

I'd rather have continued to build around Bruno who is in his prime than a 37 year old who is very close to retirement on the evidence of the last few months.

 

[Ali Dia]

It's getting to the point where I'd trade so-called legs for having a brain and a first touch. I'm not necessarily saying to drop Bruno for Mata, but I certainly feel this team could do with a touch of the Spaniard's guile from time to time.

He has the guile of a small child the last few years.

 

[united for life]

This is the Bruno thread. Of course those other players are problems as well. But aside from Maguire, the rest have been dropped or temporarily taken out of the side at times. Bruno is one of the 'undroppables' and that shouldn't be the case, as he has been pretty terrible for a long time now.

You have even just said he is a problem.

How did my “not” become a “bit”! Must be a typo. Anyway, i agree that every player needs to be rotated. He is no different. But he is not terrible at all

 

[Jeppers7]

Don't think him and Ronaldo play well together at all. Bruno has almost carried us into the CL two seasons running and Ronaldo coming back seems to have hampered his game.

Bit of a joke really but the same thing happens for Portugal too.

I'd rather have continued to build around Bruno who is in his prime than a 37 year old who is very close to retirement on the evidence of the last few months.

How did he carry us to CL last season?

 

[Nou_Camp99]

How did he carry us to CL last season?

Ermmmm......he scored the most goals and got the most assists at the club. I'd say that helped a little didn't it?

You're such a weird guy. Pogba can play a few good games and go on like he's a god and Bruno can get almost 40 goals and assists and you belittle him.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Who do we drop him for? Mata?

No, you play Fred alongside Pogba as the two aggressive 8's. He'd offer much more positional solidity there than Bruno. Bruno isn't even that great of a long passer anyways so it's not like he's a great CM, Pogba is miles clear in that regard.

If I'm Ralf I'd drop Rashford for Elanga, Bruno for Fred, and Maguire for Lindelof. We get more structure throughout the midfield, and lose the liabilities that are Maguire and Rashford currently.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Pretty simple, Bruno's main position is as a pseudo second striker (not really a 10 because he so many runs beyond the strikers as opposed to sitting in the pocket). He's basically the same player Delli Alli was at his best where people thought both players were midfielders when in actuality they were forwards masquerading as midfielders. He's a great finisher in the box and has fantastic vision around the box, but in reality doesn't' have great passing range and is far too undisciplined in where he positions himself. So you basically have to build the team around him to let him rack up numbers (as Ole did), or you're stuck with a player that is a piss poor decision maker and caught in between minds to get in the box or actually play his role a bit deeper.

This indulgence of some of our better known players has to stop at some point if we are ever going to progress.

 

[Jeppers7]

Ermmmm......he scored the most goals and got the most assists at the club. I'd say that helped a little didn't it?

You're such a weird guy. Pogba can play a few good games and go on like he's a god and Bruno can get almost 40 goals and assists and you belittle him.

But that lacks context because from January his form dropped off a cliff and in the league, where we qualified for CL, he scored 2 non penalty goals and got 4 assists. First half of the season we were a shambles but from December got our act together and finished a very comfortable second. I just wonder how Bruno going off form from the time we pulled our selves together and 2 non penalty goals and 4 assists equate to him carrying us to CL.

It’s highly unfair to some of the other players who were key to our form from January. Shaw, Pogba,Cavani for example.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Great workrate but needs to slow down on the ball, this was always one of my concerns with him, when he's on he brings the sizzle but there's a lack of steak to his overall game if you want to control a football match, it's all or nothing with his passing. @Adnan suggested using him as a false 9 and I'd say it's worth a try given the state of Cavani and Ronaldo lately.

his only redeeming quality nowadays.

 

[Greck]

Don't think him and Ronaldo play well together at all. Bruno has almost carried us into the CL two seasons running and Ronaldo coming back seems to have hampered his game.

Bit of a joke really but the same thing happens for Portugal too.

I'd rather have continued to build around Bruno who is in his prime than a 37 year old who is very close to retirement on the evidence of the last few months.

Their dynamic is shit but build around Bruno? No thank you. Nowhere near smart enough to be a United centerpiece. We'll let him know when we have a game that needs pinging long balls behind the last man. His utility somehow mirrors Rashford's where they're situationally good and below par at the basics. Starting to look very Spurs-like, match of the day players. He's like a Nani reincarnate given unlimited creative freedom.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Their dynamic is shit but build around Bruno? No thank you. Nowhere near smart enough to be a United centerpiece. We'll let him know when we have a game that needs pinging long balls behind the last man. His utility somehow mirrors Rashford's where they're situationally good and below par at the basics. Starting to look very Spurs-like, match of the day players.

Who else do you build around then?

 

[lost7]

Why not try him as a false 9? It's not like dropping any of our strikers will have an impact on our goals... I reckon a midfield 3 of Pogba McTominay and Fred with Bruno up front would actually be worth exploring. The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is that his shooting has been wank all season, so that could be a problem if he was our main threat to score

 

[Rozay]

Who else do you build around then?

Perhaps a system? You do not need to pick a player to ‘build around’!

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Perhaps a system? You do not need to pick a player to ‘build around’!

Ralf was meant to be a great tactician. He's not managed to find one yet.

 

[spiriticon]

He's trying his best I think, but his pass accuracy % is just so bad.

He has the vision and the heart, the quality of the execution lets him down more than half the time.

 

[Rozay]

Ralf was meant to be a great tactician. He's not managed to find one yet.

That’s a different argument. I’m just responding to the need to pick a player to build around. It’s a but of a fixation on here, and is outdated.

And for what it is worth, Rangnick has definitely got the team playing like a unit in many ways, and there are clear tactical improvements, if not results. The first halves of all recent games show what he is trying. We are getting closer towards isolating the issues as personnel issues.

 

[Greck]

Who else do you build around then?

Do you see any one player in our team worth building around on an individual level? Pep didn't even build around Aguero who was world class when he joined. Unless you want to become Spurs making the best of what they can get you build systems.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

That’s a different argument. I’m just responding to the need to pick a player to build around. It’s a but of a fixation on here, and is outdated.

And for what it is worth, Rangnick has definitely got the team playing like a unit in many ways, and there are clear tactical improvements, if not results. The first halves of all recent games show what he is trying. We are getting closer towards isolating the issues as personnel issues.

We have had a very favourable run of fixtures and still been unconvincing. We've also scored 1 goal or less in 10 of his 13 games.

Something is badly badly wrong still. He's not an elite coach. He's done nothing really in the club game and been out of it for a very long time.

Seen a better reaction from Villa players under Gerrard ffs. That says it all.

 

[Greck]

We have had a very favourable run of fixtures and still been unconvincing. We've also scored 1 goal or less in 10 of his 13 games.

Something is badly badly wrong still. He's not an elite coach. He's done nothing really in the club game and been out of it for a very long time.

Seen a better reaction from Villa players under Gerrard ffs. That says it all.

He isn't elite but that doesn't mean Bruno is. If his star man complex is breaking down attacks in a lesser system he isn't about to be more useful in a big brained one like Ten Haag's. Maybe we should go for ETH after all, Poch will probably get sacked trying to make do with so many system misfits.

edit also when you talk about Ralf don't omit how Bruno bottled the cup game. Maybe Ralf should even be the victim here.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

He isn't elite but that doesn't mean Bruno is. If his star man complex is breaking down attacks in a lesser system he isn't about to be more useful in a big brained one like Ten Haag's. Maybe we should go for ETH after all, Poch will probably get sacked trying to make do with so many system misfits.

edit also when you talk about Ralf don't omit how Bruno bottled the cup game. Maybe Ralf should even be the victim here.

Bruno has been one of our rare good signings in the post Fergie era. I don't get why everyone goes in on him all the time.

Ronaldo arrival seems to have overshadowed him this year but last two seasons I think he's been out best player

 

[VivaRonaldo85]

Right player, terrible time.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Bruno has been one of our rare good signings in the post Fergie era. I don't get why everyone goes in on him all the time.

Ronaldo arrival seems to have overshadowed him this year but last two seasons I think he's been out best player

He literally hasn’t been good in a calendar year. Last spring Pogba, Greenwood, and Cavani basically carried us. And in the fall the less said the better, pretty much everyone was terrible besides Ronaldo (who is noww currently shite).

 

[Greck]

Bruno has been one of our rare good signings in the post Fergie era. I don't get why everyone goes in on him all the time.

Ronaldo arrival seems to have overshadowed him this year but last two seasons I think he's been out best player

Ronaldo is a noose but that doesn't make these players good enough. Can see where the Ronaldo thing comes from but can't get behind how others get to hide behind it. They had low tactical intelligence before he joined. Then in the 2 years before Maguire, Bruno, Rashford and others all got to play a deep lying counter system that used their best traits but those were underdog traits that surrendered control. High lines, being able to control games, breaking deep defenses and playing in phonebooth pockets, I don't see it in a lot of our current attackers maybe besides Sancho

 

[Amar__]

In the last three games his passing accuracy is similar to Pogba's(in only one game he was far lower than Pogba in this department), and he created almost twice as Pogba in those three games, and made more passes in general than Pogba.

Pogba's performances since he's back are regarded mostly as very good to - "he is clearly our best player", while Bruno is described by mostly being out of form and is "one of our main problems".

This place is amazing.

 

[Rozay]

We have had a very favourable run of fixtures and still been unconvincing. We've also scored 1 goal or less in 10 of his 13 games.

Something is badly badly wrong still. He's not an elite coach. He's done nothing really in the club game and been out of it for a very long time.

Seen a better reaction from Villa players under Gerrard ffs. That says it all.

Results and performances are very different. I think you are being deliberately obtuse here, just like you limit an assessment to ‘Pogba has only scored one goal’, for example, although you are aware that is not the metric that determines whether he has played well or not. Anyone can see that we have only scored a goal a game. They can also see that it is not due to the fact that Rangnick cannot set up a team to create more than one opportunity a game, so it bears no relevance to how well his tactics are set up. The amount of chances missed by Ronaldo isn’t a metric that measures tactics.

Top teams are built on a foundation of principles, understanding etc - and results are often the last part. Our results have not been good enough, but they would have been if we’d have taken more of our chances and not made as many individual defensive errors. Which, from a ‘building something from scratch’ perspective, is actually a good thing. When people say things like ‘trust the process’, that means that you should believe that better results will come once the work is complete. We have an ageing pair of centre forwards and the manager has publicly stated we will be looking for a new one. That is encouragement that our current issue of failing to take the many chances may be rectified soon. We are conceding less chances on our goal than we did at the beginning of the season too. I’m confident that if we continue on the path that we are on, so long as it is not derailed by a loss of confidence, which comes with poor results - we will get there. Our issues are personnel. The errors are individual. But as a collective, we are making more chances and we are conceding less chances, which must be a sign of coaching progress. Coaches can’t win the games themselves.

United finished 2nd in 2017 under Mourinho, largely with all results and No performances. As a result, the summer wasn’t filled with optimism, whereas everyone felt Liverpool, who finished 4th, were about to challenge. What they were doing was clear, and their very good coach had done well to get their problems down to personnel. Which he then corrected with Van Dijk and Allison and they improved immediately.

 

[Rozay]

In the last three games his passing accuracy is similar to Pogba's(in only one game he was far lower than Pogba in this department), and he created almost twice as Pogba in those three games, and made more passes in general than Pogba.

Pogba's performances since he's back are regarded mostly as very good to - "he is clearly our best player", while Bruno is described by mostly being out of form and is "one of our main problems".

This place is amazing.

Perhaps people don’t watch football matches via Opta’s Twitter feed?

 

[LJJT]

He was an ole signing- he was great in an ole team- Pinch the ball, play it quick/fast and release a player on the counter. That’s why it’s took him so long to adapt to a more pragmatic planned approach, it doesn’t suit him though.