They've qualified for the WC again, i think that's a decent argument.
Bruno Fernandes’ “Bad Season”
- Thread starter MalaysianRed7
- Start date
Bruno is not among their top players, coming off the bench at times and against Serbia he looked quite clearly their worst
While playing poorly and finishing second behind Serbia.
I kinda feel as if he is one that has suffered from the lack of structure and being allowed to do as he pleases. He was a far better player at Sporting. Now he seems like a bit of a self indulgent child and in part I feel due to over his time here there has been a genuine lack of passing options provided by the team and him as well.
Seems like he has become more frantic and more wild with his choices maybe because in part he feels like he has to try something crazy to find a player. However this should have been corrected and stamped out and people have been saying this was coming even in his purple patch.
Bit like Rashford it’s up to them to take on board and execute what a coach tells them to do or correcting their flaws. I just worry they are both too far gone having had their poor play and decisions pampered to for that one possible moment when something good happens.
Seems like he has become more frantic and more wild with his choices maybe because in part he feels like he has to try something crazy to find a player. However this should have been corrected and stamped out and people have been saying this was coming even in his purple patch.
Bit like Rashford it’s up to them to take on board and execute what a coach tells them to do or correcting their flaws. I just worry they are both too far gone having had their poor play and decisions pampered to for that one possible moment when something good happens.
His stats for a long time have padded the fact that for the majority of matches he cost us more than we realise. A CB or GK gives the ball away it leads to a goal so the mistake gets remembered and it’s cost is tangible.
But when a player like Fernandes constantly waste possession people don’t realise he’s wasting “potential” attacking opportunities it’s an intangible cost.. we don’t realise that a Silva, Iniesta, de Bruyne in that situation would have retained possession and 1-5 passes later their team would have a chance.
That’s the difference between elite and outside the top 4.
I have been defending him since the day we signed him but this season I am close to giving up on him. There is never a better time to judge a player than when the team is struggling because then the true character of the player will come out and you can easily pick out the ones with the good personalities and ability to still perform well even though things are going against them.
Bruno has been as bad as the rest. Constantly walking around, doing gestures to teammates, whining and moaning about everything, clumsy passes, clumsily being dispossessed, being shit in the final third for most of the time, being given an opportunity like today and bottling it.
I have completely misjudged him thinking he was one of the big characters in this team but this year has proven me completely wrong. He's just another one who can only do well when everything is going his way. The moment things turn bad he just falls into the same category as the rest constantly putting in below par perfromances.
Good players and big characters stand out even when things go bad.
Bruno has been as bad as the rest. Constantly walking around, doing gestures to teammates, whining and moaning about everything, clumsy passes, clumsily being dispossessed, being shit in the final third for most of the time, being given an opportunity like today and bottling it.
I have completely misjudged him thinking he was one of the big characters in this team but this year has proven me completely wrong. He's just another one who can only do well when everything is going his way. The moment things turn bad he just falls into the same category as the rest constantly putting in below par perfromances.
Good players and big characters stand out even when things go bad.
Bruno isnt playing well lately. But I think people drastically underestimate the difficulty of being a playmaker in a team with no plan. The pace of the modern premier league is relentless and as a result more and more of a teams build up play is based on training ground automation, rather than individual ingenuity.
Its far easier for Kevin De Bruyne to play killer one time passes when he knows ahead of time exactly what runs his team mates are meant to make in any given situation.
For me this is the reason both Fernandes and Pogba have struggled. Pogba (knowing he can put the ball on a sixpence) tries to read his team mates movements in real-time and then play the perfect ball. This often leads to him being caught on the ball. Bruno does the opposite and blindly fires the ball into the areas he believes his team mates should be making runs into.
Both look amazing when their respective methods work, but both look awful when they don't.
Having a systemic pattern of movement and positional play under ten Hag will help Bruno look far more consistent in his playmaking.
Its far easier for Kevin De Bruyne to play killer one time passes when he knows ahead of time exactly what runs his team mates are meant to make in any given situation.
For me this is the reason both Fernandes and Pogba have struggled. Pogba (knowing he can put the ball on a sixpence) tries to read his team mates movements in real-time and then play the perfect ball. This often leads to him being caught on the ball. Bruno does the opposite and blindly fires the ball into the areas he believes his team mates should be making runs into.
Both look amazing when their respective methods work, but both look awful when they don't.
Having a systemic pattern of movement and positional play under ten Hag will help Bruno look far more consistent in his playmaking.
Why the constant putting others down in Bruno talks. He seems to almost get babied. In some cases these are players actually performing better than him being blamed for caring less and bringing him down. Ralf's system isn't great but it's also a system that looked functional when Bruno was still choking games. In Ralf's first couple games we had the most chances created in the league and Bruno pissed away so many chances and dropped so many 3/10s. We're all watching the same player, no one is bringing him down, not Ralf or Ronaldo or his midfield partners. In this system Fred has even raised his level and Mctominay hasn't been a disaster. Don't be shocked when the worst performers of the last few months continue under ETH.
Some players are regressing under greater structure. Overall we don't actually have that many players who haven't shown flashes of ability since Ralf joined. It's just Bruno and maybe Rashford.
Last edited:
I dont think anything I said was putting anyone down, so maybe you're referring to other posts?. My post was an acceptance that Bruno hasn't played particularly well this season and a defense of both him and Pogba in that I believe they'd both play better under EtH's system (based on possession, postional play and movement rather than Ralfs intense counter pressing or Oles freedom of expression).
Thats not a jab at Ralf Rangnick either, I think he's done a decent job under the circumstances (couldnt get the coaches he wanted, hasnt had much time on the training pitch due to fixture congestion, wasnt backed in the market, lost most of his front six etc).
But anyway, as you say, we'll soon see who plays well under EtH. Personally I'm optimistic that everyone who survives the cull will improve under Ten Hag.
If Madrid came in with a "jaap stam type offer" meaning an offer too good to refuse for a player we should take it. Bruno is no longer indispensable for us.
Brunos had a bad season, but who at United, with the exceptions of Ronaldo and DDG, hasnt? This season has been dreadful and has affected Bruno more than most. If ETH can get us firing again I think Bruno will regain his appetite and desire again.
My post was more about him having the skills to do it rather than his form. I guess we might see if he can do it consistently next season.
He was very likable when he was the man.
He's had a bad season.
I still love Bruno and he's one of the very few players I'd be desperate to see here in 5 years time.
I still love Bruno and he's one of the very few players I'd be desperate to see here in 5 years time.
He’s not been consistent and at times been down right terrible for sure but hasn’t your season been like that? A vacation and time away from a toxic environment will do him some wonders and he will come back next season and return to form.
Even his 2 goals that took Portugal to the WC didn't bring Bruno's confidence back.
I've said it many times, regardless of form, he is a good impact player or shadow striker, who is good at seeing opportunities, taking chances and making final balls or shoots. His best use is when we play fast counter attack football, which doesn't require much of midfield build up play. Hence he was very important to us under Ole counter attack team over past 2 years, and tends to have good stats even when playing poorly.
However, he isn't a good playmaker, who controls the flow of attack play, or participating in build up plays in midfield. He doesn't link up midfield and attack, he is not a ball player either. He has creativity spark which makes a difference, but he isn't a functional playmaker in possession football system.
Hence, I have doubts whether he would play well under Ten Hag system.
However, he isn't a good playmaker, who controls the flow of attack play, or participating in build up plays in midfield. He doesn't link up midfield and attack, he is not a ball player either. He has creativity spark which makes a difference, but he isn't a functional playmaker in possession football system.
Hence, I have doubts whether he would play well under Ten Hag system.
I think you'll have a hard time finding any player with those criteria. That they must be playing great character and showing great in the worst times. He already did when he joined kind of.
He's probably had a slump at Sporting too for all we know and still got to the level he was when he joined us.
His season this year has been really bad compared to his standards however. I completely agree
Last edited:
I do have to remind myself of this when criticising players. It's about the only reason I wouldn't sell him or Rashford.
Bruno is great, and will come good again! Hard to make any further worthwhile analysis in this SuperToxic™ state of ours.
"bad" indeed
Bruno has had a bad season.
Bruno is one of our most important players and losing him would be a monumentally stupid decision.
Both statements can be true, and in this case are.
Bruno is one of our most important players and losing him would be a monumentally stupid decision.
Both statements can be true, and in this case are.
I realise that Bruno has had 1 bad season BUT, he also carried us on his shoulder for 18 months. For this reason, he has a lot of goodwill in his locker and I'm happy for him to stay next season as a key player. 1 bad season does not wipe away the good that he did last season and the season before.