Bruno Fernandes Out? | Al Hilal ready to offer 80m

[Amity Survivor]

I have no confidence the club would reinvest the money wisely if we did sell, I’d be extremely worried should they go that route, him, Yoro and Amad are the only players who are untouchable in my eyes .
Fans would riot

 

[Gandalf]

Watching the West Ham game this weekend was one of the first times I have started leaning towards the idea of cashing in on Bruno and it is in no way a reflection on him.

West Ham were dire, we had so much possession going into their half and multiple times players were driving forward in wide areas with space to either keep running into or ample room and time to deliver a cross. In all bar a tiny minority of these situations the player in possession turned around and passed the ball backwards into the middle of the field for Bruno, despite the fact that this allowed West Ham to reorganize and set and left Bruno to make a near impossible pass into a crowded penalty area. I have noticed this in isolation before with the likes of Dalot but this was the first time I realized that with the possible exception of Garnacho it is the default setting for all of our players.

Bruno has effectively become the comfort blanket for the entire squad and given them the perfect cover to shirk any responsibility on the pitch. I am terrified of what we may look like without him but I am also afraid that the team will never progress so long as they can hide behind him.

 

[Freak]

Watching the West Ham game this weekend was one of the first times I have started leaning towards the idea of cashing in on Bruno and it is in no way a reflection on him.

West Ham were dire, we had so much possession going into their half and multiple times players were driving forward in wide areas with space to either keep running into or ample room and time to deliver a cross. In all bar a tiny minority of these situations the player in possession turned around and passed the ball backwards into the middle of the field for Bruno, despite the fact that this allowed West Ham to reorganize and set and left Bruno to make a near impossible pass into a crowded penalty area. I have noticed this in isolation before with the likes of Dalot but this was the first time I realized that with the possible exception of Garnacho it is the default setting for all of our players.

Bruno has effectively become the comfort blanket for the entire squad and given them the perfect cover to shirk any responsibility on the pitch. I am terrified of what we may look like without him but I am also afraid that the team will never progress so long as they can hide behind him.

The team will just hide behind Amad if Bruno leaves. We need to clear out the cowards, not the ones who are performing for us.

 

[MF1138]

Watching the West Ham game this weekend was one of the first times I have started leaning towards the idea of cashing in on Bruno and it is in no way a reflection on him.

West Ham were dire, we had so much possession going into their half and multiple times players were driving forward in wide areas with space to either keep running into or ample room and time to deliver a cross. In all bar a tiny minority of these situations the player in possession turned around and passed the ball backwards into the middle of the field for Bruno, despite the fact that this allowed West Ham to reorganize and set and left Bruno to make a near impossible pass into a crowded penalty area. I have noticed this in isolation before with the likes of Dalot but this was the first time I realized that with the possible exception of Garnacho it is the default setting for all of our players.

Bruno has effectively become the comfort blanket for the entire squad and given them the perfect cover to shirk any responsibility on the pitch. I am terrified of what we may look like without him but I am also afraid that the team will never progress so long as they can hide behind him.

It's a fear issue, recycle the ball rather than taking a risk, Bruno is just the most likely player to be positioned to receive that ball because of where he plays and yes he's willing to take charge. They'll do it if he's not there anyway because it not about passing the buck to Bruno it's about passing the buck.

Or maybe they just don't trust the options in front of them.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Wouldn’t it be a typical United to fail to capitalize on the presented opportunity to cash in on soon to be an over the hill player (which was highly inconsistent and lacks physicality to be part of the midfield 2) and foster the rebuild required.

Have you watched his performances these past few months? What signs are there that he is soon to be over the hill? If anything, he's showing signs of improving. He never gets injured and he's built like Modric, so it's far more likely that he'll continue being class well into his late 30s.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Have you watched his performances these past few months? What signs are there that he is soon to be over the hill? If anything, he's showing signs of improving. He never gets injured and he's built like Modric, so it's far more likely that he'll continue being class well into his late 30s.

I ignore comments like that. It's mad to me any United fan can watch him and think anything like that.

 

[Red in STL]

It's a fear issue, recycle the ball rather than taking a risk, Bruno is just the most likely player to be positioned to receive that ball because of where he plays and yes he's willing to take charge. They'll do it if he's not there anyway because it not about passing the buck to Bruno it's about passing the buck.

Or maybe they just don't trust the options in front of them.

It's modern football, the fear of losing possession makes players risk averse, that's the consequence of Pep football

 

[square pass]

Sell Bruno, go classic 4-4-2 with a classic big man, small man and whip in countless crosses. Who needs technically gifted players in their team? Bring back the good ol' days

 

[red.knight]

We need a massive squad overhaul. As controversial as it sounds, I would not hesitate to accept £120 million for Bruno even though he’s been our best player for the past 5 seasons.

 

[Shark]

We need a massive squad overhaul. As controversial as it sounds, I would not hesitate to accept £120 million for Bruno even though he’s been our best player for the past 5 seasons.

Do you trust the club to do an overhaul considering our signings over the past decade? Bruno is the one gem we signed among countless duds.

 

[2 man midfield]

feck sake. I saw the title and thought you were talking about the final

 

[tomaldinho1]

Sell Bruno, go classic 4-4-2 with a classic big man, small man and whip in countless crosses. Who needs technically gifted players in their team? Bring back the good ol' days

I do actually think football is heading back this way, look at Forest's success. More crosses, more aerial threat, CBs these days I think are much more vulnerable to that style.

There's that young German striker who is like Crouch and scored a hattrick against Spain (I think), get him in with Zirkzee and just lump up balls to them.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Have you watched his performances these past few months? What signs are there that he is soon to be over the hill? If anything, he's showing signs of improving. He never gets injured and he's built like Modric, so it's far more likely that he'll continue being class well into his late 30s.

Look at Casemiro. We spent a lot of money on him and got a good season out of him and then he nosedived as did his value. You can only get good money for these guys when they're still good. You move them on before they go over the hill, not after. Bruno seems to me to be a high energy player. He may still be playing well but if the energy l we levels drop and he goes over the hill while he's here his value will crash like Casemiro's has. We've never been as good at this as Arsenal for instance who always sold their best players at around 29/30. The position we're in we need to get a lot better at it.

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Look at Casemiro. We spent a lot of money on him and got a good season out of him and then he nosedived as did his value. You can only get good money for these guys when they're still good. You move them on before they go over the hill, not after. Bruno seems to me to be a high energy player. He may still be playing well but if the energy l we levels drop and he goes over the hill while he's here his value will crash like Casemiro's has. We've never been as good at this as Arsenal for instance who always sold their best players at around 29/30. The position we're in we need to get a lot better at it.

Comparing Casemiro to Bruno is flawed considering there were clear signs of Casemiro's legs going even when he looked like a very good signing during his first season.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with the Arsenal comparison. If they had a 29/30 year old Bruno these past couple of years then they would have won something by now instead of going trophyless for 5 years. They certainly wouldn't considering selling him this summer.

 

[Scholsey2004]

[

Comparing Casemiro to Bruno is flawed considering there were clear signs of Casemiro's legs going even when he looked like a very good signing during his first season.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with the Arsenal comparison. If they had a 29/30 year old Bruno these past couple of years then they would have won something by now instead of going trophyless for 5 years. They certainly wouldn't considering selling him this summer.

The point I'm making is that at some point in the near future Bruno's value will greatly deteriorate. If we sell now we make back the money for his replacement, like Real did with Casemiro.

 

[Abhinav]

[
The point I'm making is that at some point in the near future Bruno's value will greatly deteriorate. If we sell now we make back the money for his replacement, like Real did with Casemiro.

When you have a well settled team, with stars of great quality spread all over the pitch, you can try to be clever and time exits of one odd player, just as we did with Stam, Beckham, Ruud, without suffering major consequences on the pitch.
However, when you are bereft of any quality on the pitch, like we are, selling your one world class players in the hopes of capturing market value, is a very risky strategy, bordering on insanity.

 

[Tallis]

[
The point I'm making is that at some point in the near future Bruno's value will greatly deteriorate. If we sell now we make back the money for his replacement, like Real did with Casemiro.

We may get relegated next season without Bruno.

 

[ErikElevenHag]

Watching the West Ham game this weekend was one of the first times I have started leaning towards the idea of cashing in on Bruno and it is in no way a reflection on him.

West Ham were dire, we had so much possession going into their half and multiple times players were driving forward in wide areas with space to either keep running into or ample room and time to deliver a cross. In all bar a tiny minority of these situations the player in possession turned around and passed the ball backwards into the middle of the field for Bruno, despite the fact that this allowed West Ham to reorganize and set and left Bruno to make a near impossible pass into a crowded penalty area. I have noticed this in isolation before with the likes of Dalot but this was the first time I realized that with the possible exception of Garnacho it is the default setting for all of our players.

Bruno has effectively become the comfort blanket for the entire squad and given them the perfect cover to shirk any responsibility on the pitch. I am terrified of what we may look like without him but I am also afraid that the team will never progress so long as they can hide behind him.

This seems like a bizarre take.

The response should be to get rid of the players who won't take accountability, not ship out your only truly world class player.

 

[Gandalf]

This seems like a bizarre take.

The response should be to get rid of the players who won't take accountability, not ship out your only truly world class player.

Fair enough but based on the West Ham game that means we will be left with a squad of 3 players until we bring replacements in. I am not even advocating for moving Bruno on but it was just a great illustration of why we are limited with him in the side. Not because of Bruno himself but because of the way we rely on him far too much.

 

[Scholsey2004]

We may get relegated next season without Bruno.

We may get relegated with him. Our direction of travel has been consistently downward over the last decade anyway. With the fee we got for him we could find a younger replacement though.

 

[Scholsey2004]

When you have a well settled team, with stars of great quality spread all over the pitch, you can try to be clever and time exits of one odd player, just as we did with Stam, Beckham, Ruud, without suffering major consequences on the pitch.
However, when you are bereft of any quality on the pitch, like we are, selling your one world class players in the hopes of capturing market value, is a very risky strategy, bordering on insanity.

He's not going to be putting in this level of performance for much longer anyway though. He's already not quite the player he was when he arrived. So the cliff edge situation you're describing is coming, whether we sell him or not.

 

[Pickle85]

He's not going to be putting in this level of performance for much longer anyway though. He's already not quite the player he was when he arrived. So the cliff edge situation you're describing is coming, whether we sell him or not.

He's having arguably the best season he's had with us, what do you mean he's not quite the player he was when he arrived?

 

[Scholsey2004]

He's having arguably the best season he's had with us, what do you mean he's not quite the player he was when he arrived?

20/21 he scored 18 goals and got 12 assists. He puts in good numbers still but imo he's not quite as explosive now as he was under Solskjaer for instance, which you would expect, he's 31 in September. Irrespective of where we stand on his current level it's not going to last forever. If we hold onto him we lose out on a fee that will buy his successor. If Real Madrid aren't too big to operate like that then I don't see why we are.

 

[Pickle85]

20/21 he scored 18 goals and got 12 assists. He puts in good numbers still but imo he's not quite as explosive now as he was under Solskjaer for instance, which you would expect, he's 31 in September. Irrespective of where we stand on his current level it's not going to last forever. If we hold onto him we lose out on a fee that will buy his successor. If Real Madrid aren't too big to operate like that then I don't see why we are.

It's not that we're 'too big to operate like that', it's that the club doesn't see the wisdom in selling our best player (by a country mile) based on a pretty random assumption that he's going to start declining enough over the next couple of years to warrant getting rid of him. Particularly not when there's no clear successor available that would put up anything close to his numbers.

Whichever way you cut it, pushing to sell our best player while he's having one of the best seasons of his career is (to put it kindly) an unconventional and highly risky move.

 

[Tallis]

We may get relegated with him. Our direction of travel has been consistently downward over the last decade anyway. With the fee we got for him we could find a younger replacement though.

We have to get over this idea of new and young is better and look at what’s working and what’s not.

Change what’s not working. Keep what’s working.

We don’t have a lot of what is working and to say we want to sell our best player who literally contributed half of our goals is not a particularly clever thing to do.

 

[VWW]

Seriously dont know how you guys are thinking this transfer is a possibility. Bruno came out before the Qatar World Cup with criticism of the governments laws when it came to the homosexual community. Why after all that would he join a club in the same region with similar laws? And before someone mentions Jordan Henderson, I just cant see that with Bruno. I mean the man even pushed back on comments that Jim made about the squad. I just dont see him going there even if Utd do decide to sell him.

 

[Red_toad]

It's not that we're 'too big to operate like that', it's that the club doesn't see the wisdom in selling our best player (by a country mile) based on a pretty random assumption that he's going to start declining enough over the next couple of years to warrant getting rid of him. Particularly not when there's no clear successor available that would put up anything close to his numbers.

Whichever way you cut it, pushing to sell our best player while he's having one of the best seasons of his career is (to put it kindly) an unconventional and highly risky move.

He won't go against nature, he will decline.
If the club sold him and brought in 2 players who better fit the system better, I'd be perfectly happy to see him go.
His number aren't a problem, its that we have strikers who don't score and midfielders (him included) who give the ball away cheaply and on a regular basis, then a keeper who makes regular errors in big games.

 

[tslklang]

regardless of what's the fans or amorim opinion on Bruno, the club will surely cash in on a 30yo player if a bid of 100m coming in

 

[Pickle85]

He won't go against nature, he will decline.
If the club sold him and brought in 2 players who better fit the system better, I'd be perfectly happy to see him go.
His number aren't a problem, its that we have strikers who don't score and midfielders (him included) who give the ball away cheaply and on a regular basis, then a keeper who makes regular errors in big games.

His pass accuracy isn't out of whack with players playing a similar role, though. He doesn't give the call away cheaply on a regular basis.

And of course if you can guarantee youd bring in two better players for one, obviously you'd do it. Same goes for any player. The problem is there's absolutely no guarantee we'd be able to.

 

[Red_toad]

His pass accuracy isn't out of whack with players playing a similar role, though. He doesn't give the call away cheaply on a regular basis.

And of course if you can guarantee youd bring in two better players for one, obviously you'd do it. Same goes for any player. The problem is there's absolutely no guarantee we'd be able to.

1 in 5 is regular.
I'd not be buying anyone, but would expect the recruitment team to have a plan.
Bruno is a long term part of an under performing team, he earns title challenging money in a team that's nowhere near and very unlikely to be one prior to his contract expiry.

 

[Scholsey2004]

It's not that we're 'too big to operate like that', it's that the club doesn't see the wisdom in selling our best player (by a country mile) based on a pretty random assumption that he's going to start declining enough over the next couple of years to warrant getting rid of him. Particularly not when there's no clear successor available that would put up anything close to his numbers.

Whichever way you cut it, pushing to sell our best player while he's having one of the best seasons of his career is (to put it kindly) an unconventional and highly risky move.

I don't think it's unconventional at all. I think that kind of squad management is just engaging with reality. Waiting for a players value to decline before selling him seems the risky move.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I don't think it's unconventional at all. I think that kind of squad management is just engaging with reality. Waiting for a players value to decline before selling him seems the risky move.

Aye, we should’ve sold Rooney, Giggs, Carrick, Van der Saar et al before their values declined too like.

Or… we should appreciate that the top teams ALWAYS rely on top experienced players, be it Cantona and Schmeichel for the class of 92, Salah & VdV now.

Selling players as they reach 30 to save some pennies is a ridiculous way for a big club to build a team, we’re not fecking Bournemouth.

You think Liverpool regret not cashing in on Salah?

We already have:

Heaven, Dorgu, Yoro, De Ligt, Amad, Höjlund, Zirkzee, Mainoo, Garnacho, Ugarte all under 25, and they can all seem to perform once Casemiro and Bruno hit form…

 

[Smores]

1 in 5 is regular.
I'd not be buying anyone, but would expect the recruitment team to have a plan.
Bruno is a long term part of an under performing team, he earns title challenging money in a team that's nowhere near and very unlikely to be one prior to his contract expiry.

Is your expectation that players never give the ball away or something because 81% for his role is a good pass success rate. It's only defenders in the high 80s or 90%. He's also the most accurate on long ball too.

 

[Maureen-yo]

Aye, we should’ve sold Rooney, Giggs, Carrick, Van der Saar et al before their values declined too like.

Exactly. When was the last time a top PL club willingly sold their consistent star performer based on his value declining in the next few years?

 

[Scholsey2004]

Aye, we should’ve sold Rooney, Giggs, Carrick, Van der Saar et al before their values declined too like.

Does the current era seem equivalent to then to you? Those players were the bedrock of a highly successful team. Bruno, by comparison, has been an individual highlight in a far less successful team. He's done well for us but this isn't an era we should be getting misty eyed about.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Exactly. When was the last time a top PL club willingly sold their consistent star performer based on his value declining in the next few years?

Alexis Sanchez, Van Persie, Hazard.

 

[Scandi Red]

Alex is Sanchez

He really is.

 

[Scholsey2004]

Aye, we should’ve sold Rooney, Giggs, Carrick, Van der Saar et al before their values declined too like.

Or… we should appreciate that the top teams ALWAYS rely on top experienced players, be it Cantona and Schmeichel for the class of 92, Salah & VdV now.

Selling players as they reach 30 to save some pennies is a ridiculous way for a big club to build a team, we’re not fecking Bournemouth.

You think Liverpool regret not cashing in on Salah?

We already have:

Heaven, Dorgu, Yoro, De Ligt, Amad, Höjlund, Zirkzee, Mainoo, Garnacho, Ugarte all under 25, and they can all seem to perform once Casemiro and Bruno hit form…

We aren't a top team. We have a historic name but it's not representative of where we are now. Look at the league table. Comparing our situation with Bruno to Liverpool'situation with Salah is just self flattery.

 

[Red_toad]

Does the current era seem equivalent to then to you? Those players were the bedrock of a highly successful team. Bruno, by comparison, has been an individual highlight in a far less successful team. He's done well for us but this isn't an era we should be getting misty eyed about.

This 100%

 

[Gabriel Djemba-Bebe]

Alexis Sanchez, Van Persie, Hazard.

Each of those players made it clear that they wanted to leave and the club had to sell them otherwise they'd lose them on a free in less than 12 months. Neither of those circumstances are relevant to our current situation with Bruno.