[tomaldinho1]

His strengths are also arguably his most frustrating traits, ironically enough.

At times, you're crying out for him to just hold onto the ball and let us string some passes together, instead of trying those percentage passes every time.

Wolves was the perfect example of this, especially in the first half when we were up against it.

Then again, he slipped James in behind, only for him to scuff his lines, and his touch was pure class to put Greenwood through right at the end of the first half as well.

That's what you get with him, moments of class and moments of seemingly carelessness. It can't come off all the time, but I still think the net positive he brings to the team way outweighs the frustrating moments he has.

Exactly, he's very representative of our style, it's high risk, high reward and completely unstructured. Thing is, I have no doubts if he was reigned in a bit, he could do the less flashy stuff which I think we need i.e. holding his position as the tip of the midfield and staying more centrally - even if he gets less of the ball he'll pull players out of a line to mark him - and not always going for the direct ball when it's only going to work 1 in 20 times.

It's good we're having these trudging games now against weaker teams as hopefully we'll be full steam by the time Everton and Leicester come up.

 

[Lost bear]

His strengths are also arguably his most frustrating traits, ironically enough.

At times, you're crying out for him to just hold onto the ball and let us string some passes together, instead of trying those percentage passes every time.

Wolves was the perfect example of this, especially in the first half when we were up against it.

Then again, he slipped James in behind, only for him to scuff his lines, and his touch was pure class to put Greenwood through right at the end of the first half as well.

That's what you get with him, moments of class and moments of seemingly carelessness. It can't come off all the time, but I still think the net positive he brings to the team way outweighs the frustrating moments he has.

God, that Bruno is a terrible player. We were a great team until he came along…

 

[He'sRaldo]

I also think we might be setting him up to fail by hyping up and judging him mainly on his numbers. If Ronaldo comes in and takes over set pieces, he'll have pressure to produce the same output from open play, which is quite difficult.

Whereas if he were given the task of dictating moreso than being on the end of things, the likes of CR7, Cavani, Greenwood, Rashford, etc could take over the scoring burden and he'd still put in great performances and be a key part of the team. Similar to other top midfielders.

Then again, like Pogba his attacking instincts are so good that it's difficult to curb them by restricting him to deeper areas of the pitch. But if it helps the team keep control better, I'd prefer it.

 

[mattunited1978]

Played way too high yesterday which was as much a problem as the midfield behind him.

 

[E-mal]

The poster of that was being sarcastic, I'm sure he was because you don't replace Bruno for a player like Pedri who just passes the ball around.

I'm sure a coach like Guardiola will prefer the lather than the former.
As much as he is way more threatening in goal, he is way too wasteful for a team that wants to dominate.

 

[Henandez14]

If you believe Bruno's short passing and ball retention are not good enough for a deep lying position, then he should be nowhere near the No. 10 role as that is the most space-tight area where you would need both to succeed.

Technique wise, Bruno is good at passing and that's his best attribute. His short pass accuracy rate can be much higher if he is instructed to play safer passes. That would be Ole's job to fine-tune the mentality but it shouldn't be something impossible to achieve.

Scholes was press-resistant because he predicts the ball movements and get into space ahead to receive balls and distribute out. He was not the type of Kovacic who can dribble out of pressing. Bruno also possesses the same football intelligence to predict and find space as well.

After Carrick retired, we have been suffering for missing this type of playmaker . That's actually the foundation of fluid game. That even does not require super talent player, Henderson at Liverpool just managed to become a qualified one. With Bruno's passing and his stamina , it's totally possible.

Very insightful, I always felt there were two types of press resistant (modric verrati vs Scholes, kroos)

 

[izak]

I'm sure a coach like Guardiola will prefer the lather than the former.
As much as he is way more threatening in goal, he is way too wasteful for a team that wants to dominate.

How come he has KDB who's about wasteful as Bruno is huh??

 

[E-mal]

How come he has KDB who's about wasteful as Bruno is huh??

Most definitely not, forget even the stats, eye test alone tells you KDB does not make some brain-fart passes Bruno occasionally makes. He takes care of the ball better and is always available for a pass.
My point is not necessarily to put Bruno down as he has been very good for us especially when we were struggling for goals. The point is he needs to be less adventurous and help the midfield in most games so we dont get overrun.
Pogba takes care of the ball better than Bruno and is a far superior passer of it.
Pretty sure if Pogba plays as advanced as Bruno he would have his fair share of goals without much defensive responsibility.

 

[shamans]

If you believe Bruno's short passing and ball retention are not good enough for a deep lying position, then he should be nowhere near the No. 10 role as that is the most space-tight area where you would need both to succeed.

Technique wise, Bruno is good at passing and that's his best attribute. His short pass accuracy rate can be much higher if he is instructed to play safer passes. That would be Ole's job to fine-tune the mentality but it shouldn't be something impossible to achieve.

Scholes was press-resistant because he predicts the ball movements and get into space ahead to receive balls and distribute out. He was not the type of Kovacic who can dribble out of pressing. Bruno also possesses the same football intelligence to predict and find space as well.

After Carrick retired, we have been suffering for missing this type of playmaker . That's actually the foundation of fluid game. That even does not require super talent player, Henderson at Liverpool just managed to become a qualified one. With Bruno's passing and his stamina , it's totally possible.

By this logic any player who play no 10 could be a DLP and that simply is not the case. Scholes was press resistant for the reason you mentioned but also because he had really good dribbling in tight spaces. Bruno's dribbling is simply not at that level.

Scholes had an exceptional passing range from long to short to spreading the ball out wherever he wanted to. Bruno simply isn't at that level of passing. In a deep lying position he would be a disaster.

 

[shamans]

Very insightful, I always felt there were two types of press resistant (modric verrati vs Scholes, kroos)

There might be different types but Scholes wasn't just about occupying spaces. When in possession of the ball you couldn't press him. He wasn't the sort to use step overs and rainbow flicks but he'd make little adjustments and pass the ball on. Bruno is not press resistant in the same way and you don't have to be as a #10

 

[Jeppers7]

Just popping in to see if the usuals critics in Pogba’s thread are going to critique Bruno’s performance for his national team where he was dragged off after on hour while losing to Ireland……I’ll wait.

 

[Zoo]

Portugal look like a very poor team under Fernando Santos right now. Not one player has played well.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

Who gives a feck if he’s shite for Portugal.

 

[roonster09]

Who gives a feck if he’s shite for Portugal.

Pogba fans for some reason.

 

[Jeppers7]

Who gives a feck if he’s shite for Portugal.

Couldn’t give a shite to be fair.

 

[Idxomer]

He was visibly annoyed when he was taken off, he hates Santos

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Well I was visibly pleased. Gives him a nice rest.

 

[E-mal]

They played a 433 and he had to play deeper. Not surprised that he is poor.
His general game is about effect, top of the pitch. He has to play closer to goal to have any good effect. In a deeper role, his general play does not amount to much.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Solid long passing to wingers. He clearly wasn't used to score today.

 

[Pronewbie]

He doesn't fit Portugal's style of play unfortunately. At least not in the Euros, and not today. Joao Moutinho is the better playmaker from a deeper position.

There's a reason not many other clubs were in for him. He is a 10 that is perfect for Ole's style of 4-2-3-1 but not many teams play with such a position.

 

[Peyroteo]

He'll be good for Portugal when Santos leaves. He has to go before the World Cup or we're doomed

 

[E-mal]

He doesn't fit Portugal's style of play unfortunately. At least not in the Euros, and not today. Joao Moutinho is the better playmaker from a deeper position.

There's a reason not many other clubs were in for him. He is a 10 that is perfect for Ole's style of 4-2-3-1 but not many teams play with such a position.

He is not even a classical 10, his best games come as a support striker.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Watching that game, I wasn't impressed with a single player until Ronaldo extended his neck and scored goals.

They look very beatable and are pretty horrible going forward. Midfield is a bit of a clusterfeck.

 

[sullydnl]

So much of what Bruno has given us up to now has been about his output and that will inevitably be impacted by Ronaldo's arrival.

Even ignoring the loss of penalties, on a more fundamental level Ronaldo is simply going to replace Bruno as the player who takes the highest percentage of our shots and that will involve cannibalising Bruno's output quite significantly.

However, with that burden of goalscoring lifted off Bruno with Ronaldo's arrival, it may be that his role changes to one that offers more support to and from our midfield. I'm aware that as an individual he is less effective in that sort of role than as a second striker but the balance (and therefore effectiveness) of the team might be increased by that shift.

 

[meninred]

There were some comments that Bruno underperforms for Portugal because of Ronaldo presense.Hope it is not true.

 

[caid]

Portugal were kind of terrible despite all the individual players being quite good. They weren't making unforced errors all over the place and just gifting Ireland possession. We just killed them on the wings. Play it high and wide and we'd come away with the ball every time. It was a bit easy to push them wide for crosses where Ireland tend to fare better than most when defending too. It just looked a bad set up. Not enough of a midfield, not getting the goalscorers they do have into a position to score. Bruno was fairly deep for a lot of the match and was fine but they were getting a small fraction of what he can offer out of him in that set up. Its hard to understand who its meant to suit.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Saw 2 minute highlights of the game and the only thing I can think of is that surely Ronaldo's penalty miss means Bruno is the de factor number taker at club level now.

 

[KennyBurner]

They played a 433 and he had to play deeper. Not surprised that he is poor.
His general game is about effect, top of the pitch. He has to play closer to goal to have any good effect. In a deeper role, his general play does not amount to much.

Then we might be in big trouble this season. We need to setup in a 433 for our best players to all play efficiently. Pogba cant keep playing on the left when we have 3 other quality players that love that position (Martial/Rashford/Sancho). Pogba also sucks in a pivot so we will have to get a three man midfield to support him and fred.

 

[MuFc_1992]

My biggest worry with Bruno is that he might end up becoming another Mata. How similar is Bruno now compared to peak Mata at Chelsea?

 

[bond19821982]

Has Ronaldo ever played with a no 10 and had a nice partnership?

SAF built the team for him and he sold RVN.
At Real, he had Benzema who is again not a pure striker.
At Juve he had Moratta but think it was Chiesa who played with him more I guess ?

In a nutshell, I expect Bruno's game to be severely impacted with Ronaldo unless Ole can bring something up.

 

[He'sRaldo]

Has Ronaldo ever played with a no 10 and had a nice partnership?

SAF built the team for him and he sold RVN.
At Real, he had Benzema who is again not a pure striker.
At Juve he had Moratta but think it was Chiesa who played with him more I guess ?

In a nutshell, I expect Bruno's game to be severely impacted with Ronaldo unless Ole can bring something up.

Ozil. Now there's a classy player.

Top, top player at his peak. Not very similar to Bruno though.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Has Ronaldo ever played with a no 10 and had a nice partnership?

SAF built the team for him and he sold RVN.
At Real, he had Benzema who is again not a pure striker.
At Juve he had Moratta but think it was Chiesa who played with him more I guess ?

In a nutshell, I expect Bruno's game to be severely impacted with Ronaldo unless Ole can bring something up.

I think it was his 2nd season in Juventus when he formed a good partnership with Dybala, as they both played well.

 

[NinjaZombie]

I love Bruno, he's had a big impact on the club, but damn his theatrics are beginning to annoy the feck out of me. Cut that shit out, we're Manchester United. I don't mind the odd dive here and there (Rooney's to earn the PK when we stopped Arsenal reaching 50 unbeaten was delightful shithousery) but the play acting and fake injuries are too much. Come on Bruno, Man Utd players are tougher than that. Ronaldo stopped his nonsense 2-3 years into his career with us and went a level up. Toughen up ffs.

 

[Mr Smith]

He is not even a classical 10, his best games come as a support striker.

That's not actually true, there's some recency bias here. Watch his first 10 games for us. He's an expert at finding space, and knowing where to be to receive a pass. He wasn't playing anywhere near as far forward for us then as he is now, and he also wasn't making runs in behind on a regular basis. He was usually actually playing the balls in behind (coincidentally, this was the same period when Pogba was injured). I personally want to see more of that again from Bruno; picking the ball up in pockets and playing balls in behind to our quick forwards.

 

[Mr Smith]

My biggest worry with Bruno is that he might end up becoming another Mata. How similar is Bruno now compared to peak Mata at Chelsea?

Quite different, odd comparison. Mata's flaws were that he struggled to play out wide, lacked pace, and was occasionally too risk averse. Bruno is actually very quick, runs all game, and plays a risky pass almost every time. I suppose their main similarity would be their appreciation of space, both in positioning and passing.

 

[roonster09]

He wasn't poor, he played like a proper CM. Any game where he doesn't score or assist is considered as poor game. He was the only player who was switching the play and also Portugal attacker more from B.Silva side with him and Cancelo on that side.

 

[MuFc_1992]

Quite different, odd comparison. Mata's flaws were that he struggled to play out wide, lacked pace, and was occasionally too risk averse. Bruno is actually very quick, runs all game, and plays a risky pass almost every time. I suppose their main similarity would be their appreciation of space, both in positioning and passing.

There are some similarities though such as both of them can only excel at no 10 and both of them aren't good at dribbling past players. Also peak Mata was extremely productive despite not dominating games just like Bruno.

 

[jem]

So much of what Bruno has given us up to now has been about his output and that will inevitably be impacted by Ronaldo's arrival.

Even ignoring the loss of penalties, on a more fundamental level Ronaldo is simply going to replace Bruno as the player who takes the highest percentage of our shots and that will involve cannibalising Bruno's output quite significantly.

However, with that burden of goalscoring lifted off Bruno with Ronaldo's arrival, it may be that his role changes to one that offers more support to and from our midfield. I'm aware that as an individual he is less effective in that sort of role than as a second striker but the balance (and therefore effectiveness) of the team might be increased by that shift.

One thing that I've been wondering is if it's possible that Bruno's place in the starting 11 possibly get impacted by all this. If McFred is our midfield going forward (and it seems like it will be,) and Rashford returns to full fitness, is it out of the realms of possibility that Pogba competes with Bruno for the role of our most attacking midfielder. I know that this will likely elicit the usual 'Pogba is an 8 not a 10' tactic-babble, but Pogba always seems more effective higher up the pitch. Anyway, just a thought....

 

[roonster09]

One thing that I've been wondering is if it's possible that Bruno's place in the starting 11 possibly get impacted by all this. If McFred is our midfield going forward (and it seems like it will be,) and Rashford returns to full fitness, is it out of the realms of possibility that Pogba competes with Bruno for the role of our most attacking midfielder. I know that this will likely elicit the usual 'Pogba is an 8 not a 10' tactic-babble, but Pogba always seems more effective higher up the pitch. Anyway, just a thought....

It's something that should happen, every player should up their game as there will be equally good player competing for place in the 11.

Also I think Pogba will play as CM.

 

[bond19821982]

Think it will upto Ole. Ronaldo is a phenomenon and will be given free role like Bruno (till now). Now the problem is we can't have too many risk takers. Imagine Bruno, Pogba and Ronaldo all trying for risks and losing the ball ? Someone will have to be disciplined.

Sadly, I dont think Bruno, Pogba and CR7 will work.

433 will work with out Bruno.
4231 will work without Pogba
4231 will work without Ronaldo

Think Pogba will leave and we will stick with the second formation.