71 goals and 59 assists in less than three full seasons, as a midfielder is phenomenal.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 22
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 9
- Yellow cards
- 3
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Looking at the comments under a sky sports post about him, everyone is desperate to call him a diver. They’re worried 
I knew he would do well at United. Didn't think he would carry United by the balls and change the club the way he has though. He has been playing the exact same way he did with Sporting except now he has players who can accompany his though process and what he is trying to do. This means IMO he will only get better.
As a Sporting fan and a Bruno fan I am ecstatic for him. Top quality bloke and top quality player and I wish him and United nothing but the best.Ahem, Mason Greenwood, ahem.
That's how we got the penalty. He's been practicing.
@SportingCP96 nice work here. You must be so happy watching him light it up right now.
Would love for United to run into Sporting in the near future to see Bruno at the Jose Alvalade stadium again.
Appreciate it mate
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The hilarious thing about all this is that in July, he is on 2 goals and 3 assists in just 2 matches, he's favorite to win the away for July too!
So two different awards give you two different coloured calendars?
This has got to be one of the most awesomely positive threads ever! Fantastic.
It’s great that Martial, Mason, Pogba (now he’s back) and Matic all seem to have clicked into a better gear but this guy ...
To come and have such an impact and contribute so much already is incredible. I’m not usually one for stats but his are wicked and mirror what he was doing in Portugal, which is great because it shows that this is what we’ll get from him long term, it’s not just a flash in the pan.
He’s literally taken us up a notch, if not 2 or 3. Everyone around him has seemingly responded and we seem to be creating and scoring for fun. No coincidence that this has happened since his arrival.
Some were cautious that we were spending too much on him but from what we’ve seen so far the guy is a bargain. Some were questioning why, if he was so good, weren’t other top teams interested in him ... I’m pretty sure that those other top teams now will be very worried about facing him and asking themselves why they didn’t go for him.
It’s more than the football too, he’s clearly massively driven, charismatic and likeable, these are priceless qualities that have a much wider benefit than goals and assists alone. To have all those qualities is special. We’ve struck gold with this guy it seems.
My favourite signing in many years. I look forward to the day I see Bruno holding up a trophy he’s won with us.
It’s great that Martial, Mason, Pogba (now he’s back) and Matic all seem to have clicked into a better gear but this guy ...
To come and have such an impact and contribute so much already is incredible. I’m not usually one for stats but his are wicked and mirror what he was doing in Portugal, which is great because it shows that this is what we’ll get from him long term, it’s not just a flash in the pan.
He’s literally taken us up a notch, if not 2 or 3. Everyone around him has seemingly responded and we seem to be creating and scoring for fun. No coincidence that this has happened since his arrival.
Some were cautious that we were spending too much on him but from what we’ve seen so far the guy is a bargain. Some were questioning why, if he was so good, weren’t other top teams interested in him ... I’m pretty sure that those other top teams now will be very worried about facing him and asking themselves why they didn’t go for him.
It’s more than the football too, he’s clearly massively driven, charismatic and likeable, these are priceless qualities that have a much wider benefit than goals and assists alone. To have all those qualities is special. We’ve struck gold with this guy it seems.
My favourite signing in many years. I look forward to the day I see Bruno holding up a trophy he’s won with us.
Not bad for a so called penalty taker
The 2 awards in picture? one is for goal of the month and player of the month
Love this post, and you’re right the thing that excites me about United now is that we create so many chances, it’s ridiculous now, I can’t believe how bad it was earlier in the season where we would create nothing. But it feels like everything’s clicking, Shaw and rashford are a good on the left hand side with the overlapping runs, and AWB is getting better and better with Greenwood ahead of him.
I genuinely do think it’s a lot of stat-nerdy xG stuff. Remember the stuff we briefed about him being too profligate with the ball and his passes? It’s definitely true — he’s a super high risk/high reward player who, when he does score, scores a shit load of free kicks and long shots — he must massively skewer ‘xG data’.
That stuff, plus him being in a very shite league, plus Sporting holding out for quite a lot of money must have meant teams were wary.
That, or we just got lucky with a free run. It happens every now and again.
Guy is insanely goodI agree. Completely different style of player but very similar in terms of influence. He's an organiser on the pitch, leads by example, great will to win and, most importantly, he's the player everyone looks to when the team needs someone to step up.
His interviews are fantastic. After the Spurs game he was asked if it was easier to take the penalty with no fans because there was less pressure. He said "no, I enjoy the pressure".
He's brilliant!
Roy Keane at Forrest
So.. any theories?
Why do you think only us (and Spurs because of Jose maybe but Levy is cheapskate) are interested in getting him?
Why other top teams or even high mid-table teams doesn't seem to be interested?
Mine.
1. His overall stats (not including goals/assists) are generally poor for a midfielder.
2. Not many top/high-mid teams are playing CAM or #10 nowadays. (Maybe I'm wrong here since I have no idea what positions he played before nor what system his prev club were using).
3. Farmers league.
4. Scouts noticed he take too much excessive risks passes (and also shootings?).
5. Scouts also noticed he tend to be "problematic" to teammates on the pitch.
6. Weren't there bad reputations about him being perceived as a "troublemaker" before he joined us?
7. Not impressive in international level with Portugal?
8. Weakest reason -- he's not really marketable initially compare to the other players, but oh this sure is changing alright since he's making noises in our shirt.
So why us?
We seriously need a new quality CAM immediately at that time, change of formation to have #10 as main system, and our management team (+scouts) noticed his top mentality behind the "disruptions" he made before, which fits United's. Plus Bruno is also a fan of the club (if I'm not wrong) and interested in joining, which are also important factor (I remember Ole said we only get players wanting to join us). Those and no other candidates are available.
Besides, we also took our sweet time in getting him, we weren't that serious until we have to. It's also laughable we overpaid for him despite can get him cheaper summer last year. And to be honest, it won't surprise me if Bruno is not our first choice target. He just doesn't fit the kind of players Ole trying to get if we look at the first 3 players we got and the other players linked with us. Even Ighalo is not the first target. We only get Bruno because the likes of Maddisson, Grealish and others (if any) are not available in Jan. Similar with Ighalo, King and Haaland are not joining us in Jan.
Whatever, we struck gold.
Why do you think only us (and Spurs because of Jose maybe but Levy is cheapskate) are interested in getting him?
Why other top teams or even high mid-table teams doesn't seem to be interested?
Mine.
1. His overall stats (not including goals/assists) are generally poor for a midfielder.
2. Not many top/high-mid teams are playing CAM or #10 nowadays. (Maybe I'm wrong here since I have no idea what positions he played before nor what system his prev club were using).
3. Farmers league.
4. Scouts noticed he take too much excessive risks passes (and also shootings?).
5. Scouts also noticed he tend to be "problematic" to teammates on the pitch.
6. Weren't there bad reputations about him being perceived as a "troublemaker" before he joined us?
7. Not impressive in international level with Portugal?
8. Weakest reason -- he's not really marketable initially compare to the other players, but oh this sure is changing alright since he's making noises in our shirt.
So why us?
We seriously need a new quality CAM immediately at that time, change of formation to have #10 as main system, and our management team (+scouts) noticed his top mentality behind the "disruptions" he made before, which fits United's. Plus Bruno is also a fan of the club (if I'm not wrong) and interested in joining, which are also important factor (I remember Ole said we only get players wanting to join us). Those and no other candidates are available.
Besides, we also took our sweet time in getting him, we weren't that serious until we have to. It's also laughable we overpaid for him despite can get him cheaper summer last year. And to be honest, it won't surprise me if Bruno is not our first choice target. He just doesn't fit the kind of players Ole trying to get if we look at the first 3 players we got and the other players linked with us. Even Ighalo is not the first target. We only get Bruno because the likes of Maddisson, Grealish and others (if any) are not available in Jan. Similar with Ighalo, King and Haaland are not joining us in Jan.
Whatever, we struck gold.
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I was skeptical about this signing but I gladly eat my own words. Fantastic player, has given us that final bit of class our midfield was missing for too long.
Not sure the bolded parts are true.So.. any theories?
Why do you think only us (and Spurs because of Jose maybe but Levy is cheapskate) are interested in getting him?
Why other top teams or even high mid-table teams doesn't seem to be interested?
Mine.
1. His overall stats (not including goals/assists) are generally poor for a midfielder.
2. Not many top/high-mid teams are playing CAM or #10 nowadays. (Maybe I'm wrong here since I have no idea what positions he played before nor what system his prev club were using).
3. Farmers league.
4. Scouts noticed he take too much excessive risks passes (and also shootings?).
5. Scouts also noticed he tend to be "problematic" to teammates on the pitch.
6. Weren't there bad reputations about him being perceived as a "troublemaker" before he joined us?
7. Not impressive in international level with Portugal?
8. Weakest reason -- he's not really marketable initially compare to the other players, but oh this sure is changing alright since he's making noises in our shirt.
So why us?
We seriously need a new quality CAM immediately at that time, change of formation to have #10 as main system, and our management team (+scouts) noticed his top mentality behind the "disruptions" he made before, which fits United's. Plus Bruno is also a fan of the club (if I'm not wrong) and interested in joining, which are also important factor (I remember Ole said we only get players wanting to join us). Those and no other candidates are available.
Besides, we also took our sweet time in getting him, we weren't that serious until we have to. It's also laughable we overpaid for him despite can get him cheaper summer last year. And to be honest, it won't surprise me if Bruno is not our first choice target. He just doesn't fit the kind of players Ole trying to get if we look at the first 3 players we got and the other players linked with us. Even Ighalo is not the first target. We only get Bruno because the likes of Maddisson, Grealish and others (if any) are not available in Jan. Similar with Ighalo, King and Haaland are not joining us in Jan.
Whatever, we struck gold.
Infact he was club captain and not only that he was of few players who stood by the club during their financial crisis.
You’re probably refering to him calling out teammates who didnt want to play for the shirt and only cared about money. Im not sure that came across as him being problematic.
I think this is pretty much it. Look at almost all the other top teams, they are playing 433/4141 and while the formation is fairly similar to the 4231, essentially you just turn the midfield three around, I think the distribution of player types has changed for the majority of clubs, they now prefer to play with two number 8s instead of a 10 and an 8, the only ones arguably doing it with two number 10s is City.
Yes that one and also the hitting the wall and yelling I think at stadium corridor (maybe I remember wrongly). Yeah, I seen those things before being circulate around social media, but I didn't bother to know more, not really interesting. Also I caught glimpses of more.
Anyway, I don't think he's a problematic player because I can understand his ambitions and top mentality (eg. frustration when it doesn't match with teammates and environment), but maybe other clubs thinks he is so they stay-away because it's just not worth it.
Who knows.
I still don't get why other top teams are not interested. He's just too good. It just doesn't make sense.
It's also beneficial to him, how he does not have to carry the team here as he did for sporting. He got great attacking support at the club in the moment and that really helps in terms of racking up the goals and assists.
Pogba has also greatly benifit from his game. It's given him so much more space to operate in and with pogba's range of passing, it's ridiculous what the future might hold.
Pogba has also greatly benifit from his game. It's given him so much more space to operate in and with pogba's range of passing, it's ridiculous what the future might hold.
I think the "United weren't interested in Fernandes" story is nonsense. I think he was their first choice. They just couldn't get the deal done in the summer. I think the intention was always to go back for him in January.So.. any theories?
Why do you think only us (and Spurs because of Jose maybe but Levy is cheapskate) are interested in getting him?
Why other top teams or even high mid-table teams doesn't seem to be interested?
Mine.
1. His overall stats (not including goals/assists) are generally poor for a midfielder.
2. Not many top/high-mid teams are playing CAM or #10 nowadays. (Maybe I'm wrong here since I have no idea what positions he played before nor what system his prev club were using).
3. Farmers league.
4. Scouts noticed he take too much excessive risks passes (and also shootings?).
5. Scouts also noticed he tend to be "problematic" to teammates on the pitch.
6. Weren't there bad reputations about him being perceived as a "troublemaker" before he joined us?
7. Not impressive in international level with Portugal?
8. Weakest reason -- he's not really marketable initially compare to the other players, but oh this sure is changing alright since he's making noises in our shirt.
So why us?
We seriously need a new quality CAM immediately at that time, change of formation to have #10 as main system, and our management team (+scouts) noticed his top mentality behind the "disruptions" he made before, which fits United's. Plus Bruno is also a fan of the club (if I'm not wrong) and interested in joining, which are also important factor (I remember Ole said we only get players wanting to join us). Those and no other candidates are available.
Besides, we also took our sweet time in getting him, we weren't that serious until we have to. It's also laughable we overpaid for him despite can get him cheaper summer last year. And to be honest, it won't surprise me if Bruno is not our first choice target. He just doesn't fit the kind of players Ole trying to get if we look at the first 3 players we got and the other players linked with us. Even Ighalo is not the first target. We only get Bruno because the likes of Maddisson, Grealish and others (if any) are not available in Jan. Similar with Ighalo, King and Haaland are not joining us in Jan.
Whatever, we struck gold.
As for why nobody else came in for him. I actually don't think he would have had anywhere near as much impact at another club. United were desperately in need of leadership and a creative, hard working number 10. He was the ideal player and from pre season the team was being set up for him to fit into.
I think we put the focus mainly on shipping lukaku and co and reinforcing where it mattered more (defense mainly, AWB and HM for around 130 million). Some people say it would have been better to bring him earlier, but at least Ole played all of the squad and was able to identify who should stay and who should go (before signing Fernandes).
Huge signing for us I can't believe the effect one player can have on an entire squad, it's just beautiful it is happening at our club. Ole's main task was to identify the first 11 that he can rely on doing the job properly and finally it has paved out. A lot of us probably wanted more signings but we can't keep on stuffing players in without releasing so many crap that we have been stuck with due to the previous managers. All in all, we look in good shape with Bruno at last and we must keep it up.
What was his goal of the month? The counter attack volley? For some reason i thought it was July. Only seems like a week ago
May have already been mentioned: anyone else think he's changed how he takes penalties?
Wasn't it reported he missed in that behind closed doors friendly against WBA?
He's only taken two since the restart so a small sample size, but I hope the bunny hop isn't gone forever...
Wasn't it reported he missed in that behind closed doors friendly against WBA?
He's only taken two since the restart so a small sample size, but I hope the bunny hop isn't gone forever...
He's just switching it up to keep the keepers guessing.
I’ve never seen a more productive player. Insane. His goal against Brighton is my favourite for some time.
Remember when rival fans would laugh at our reasoning for big names joining us?
Well here it is. An actual catalyst to us being a top side again and he is now a global star.
Bring United back to what we were and you were guarenteed to become as big as this. It was shocking that the nay sayers couldn't see it.
Well here it is. An actual catalyst to us being a top side again and he is now a global star.
Bring United back to what we were and you were guarenteed to become as big as this. It was shocking that the nay sayers couldn't see it.
It’s not only Bruno now, we have Pogba Martial Rashford and Greenwood. I think most players would be excited about playing with these players now.
Have to admit he slipped under the radar for me completely. How did he do for Portugal in the Nations League (lucky bastards, they have this guy, Ronaldo and Bernando Silva starting for them)
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Love this kind of self awareness, we've needed a consistent risk taker to compliment Pogba forever. Been a far cry from the LVG and Mourinho days where players looked deathly afraid to take any risks or try to express themselves.
Credit to Ole for restoring our traditional cavalier like football mentality , a player like Bruno has helped with that tremendously.
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Should engrave these golden words on the old trafford tunnel wall so that all current and future united attacking midfielders will see and read it each time they walk to the pitch.
"I'm a risk player. I take risks. I want to take risks and I will take the risks every time. I will lose a lot of balls, I will miss a lot of passes but I know when I find my strikers and wingers, they will score."
Fergie would absolutely adore him.
When you take in his stats in the last two seasons. Its clearly working in his favour.
96 Games | 94 Goals and Assists (50G/44A)
Its actually crazy.
Love that mentality. people are too obsessed with possession stat type meaningless stats or pass completion. This is how attacking mid should be, looking to hurt the defense as the first instinct.
Should engrave it on the entrances to the stands as well, because if there's one thing our home crowd hates - it's flair players.
Exactly, that's why I don't care much if a player loses possession as much as many do. It usually means they're trying to make things happen on the attacking front which is a big part of what most people enjoy about football.
The best playmakers on the planet like the likes of Messi, Salah and De Bruyne all lose possession quite a bit.
Used to be quite annoying seeing so many fans use losing possession as a stick to beat players with in recent years and might explain their reluctance and fear of taking risks and chances along with the coaching under previous regimes.
Glad that we seem to be moving past that antiquated way of thinking
Yes, I was fed up explaining how that stat lacks context and then finally gave up. Possession loss stat is usually topped by most creative players.
Yeah, happy that we are playing fearless football and players are playing with freedom.
Losing the ball while trying something is completely fine. For an AM, that is their job.
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