He needs to revert to his normal role and Mount needs to be taken out. Play Casemiro and Amrabat with Bruno and a front three.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 48
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 13
- Yellow cards
- 12
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
Completely serious. Pogba was so often defended as being the star man, only person who can make a difference, yet he was sloppy,w asteful, inconsistent and a weakness to our midfield without the ball that hindered us defensively.
How has Fernandes been that different as all of the above can be labelled at him as well. this is a star player, one of the best in the world supposedly....all built around the first 6months of his career.
He has been better than Pogba for sure and has been far more decisive for us, but he hasnt been world class for ay significant period of time consistently and when you take away the (obviously imortant) decisive momets he has actually been overall pretty average.
For me Fernandes is someone you can win cups with, he certainly isnt a player we should be building arond to win titles with. He is a very good player but massively over rated by many of our fans and pundits
It's weird as it's been obvious to me for years that Bruno caps the ceiling of a team EVEN if you build everything for him perfectly. You just can't afford to carry such a poor player in tight spaces as part of a midfield and the most advanced of them if he also isn't physically robust. Add in the fact that his finishing has been pretty poor in the past couple of years compared to his early days for us and it's even more evident.
Because unlike Pogba, Bruno regularly does make the difference. He creates the most chances in the entire PL, and affects our rhythm and defensive stability oy because of the incompetence behind him. Very different to Pogba (look where his career has gone post-United btw) who played deep and was a consistent liability on the ball.
I think, the difference with Pogba is, that he was considered world-class by many before he moved back to us. And he remained that status through all his time here (which actually is impressive). Bruno on the other hand, came as a bit of gamble. One that paid off to a degree, especially in the beginning and which has given him the world class tag by many. I think though, it faded and its mostly United fans who are naming him that. I noticed that with a couple of players, DDG, Shaw, Martinez, Bruno - all those guys have been world class at some point, I guess, it can cover up the team performances. At least you have a few world class players.
At the end of the day, Pogba and Bruno share some similarities - they have very special talents and skillset in which they are world class. But none of them really made the step up to become a main character. Both of them are very talented players who probably are unfortunate to appear in this day and age. 20 years ago, they would have chances to be called all time greats. But at this day and age, I feel footballers need to be very very rounded while still having at least one very good trait.
I think, it was/is understandable from the United side, to try and make them main characters, it just didn't work out. That actually is something that cannot be forced. You win some, you lose some.
Always the same stuff... Dude, look at where we are as a club - this is what your "makes the difference" has brought us. Sure, not just him but should put everything in perspective.
I thought I’d have a look at this because, not for me the bolded parts really.
So how much more does Bruno make the difference ?
Bruno 11432 mins, 30goals 34assists…goal/assist every 1.98 games
Pogba 12283 mins, 22goals 38assists…goal/assist every 2.27 games
Considering the different positions both played, the overall regard surrounding each player then I’m suprised that it is anywhere near that close.
Points per game
Bruno 1.84
Pogba 1.87
How about being a consistent liability on the ball?
Passing accuracy
Bruno 73.4%
Pogba 82.5%
Carries
Bruno 5224 progressive distance 12523
Pogba 5305 progressive distance 14918
Take ons
Bruno total 199 - successful 101 (50.8%) tackled 92 (46.2%)
Pogba total 350 - successful 245 (70%) tackled 105 (30%)
Doesn’t add up to me, but I’m not a massive fan of stats. I prefer the eye test. I can’t remember the last RUN of good form Bruno had over 8/10 games. If anyone wants to look back through the performance threads, I’ve done several times and backed up my opinion, then you will see that Bruno has been poor way moe consistently than Pogba.
The thing with Pogba was that everybody focussed on the 30%, the 17.5% and the 1.13 points per game we didn’t get. Nobody looks at Bruno through the eyes of the 46.2% or the 26.6% or the 1.16 points per game we didn’t get. Many judge him on a basis that I’ve never even seen before.
Where do you get your stats as Bruno has 46 PL goals alone for us and 33 assists?
He used non-penalty goals.
Brilliant player that we have been over-reliant on for years. Literally the only player we have capable of creating chances.
Frustrating sometimes because of his high risk passes and ball losses, but thats because we cant create without him.If we had competent players or a good system capable of creating goals, im sure he would sometimes play less risky passes and trust in our teams ability to create without him at times. For the national side he’s been excellent every game i’ve seen him.
I only fear we’ve been playing him too much. At some point his legs will be finished, probably earlier than it should.
Frustrating sometimes because of his high risk passes and ball losses, but thats because we cant create without him.If we had competent players or a good system capable of creating goals, im sure he would sometimes play less risky passes and trust in our teams ability to create without him at times. For the national side he’s been excellent every game i’ve seen him.
I only fear we’ve been playing him too much. At some point his legs will be finished, probably earlier than it should.
When everyone is at their absolute best form, I would actually still play Casemiro-Amrabat behind Bruno in the current EtH-System. The problem is, that none of the three are hitting anything close to their best form in this season up until now. Casemiro and Bruno are playing at their very worst, and Amrabat has been coming back from injury. Being played out of position has not helped him (or Bruno) either. Right now for me, the best midfield-three are probably Amrabat & McT/Mount behind Eriksen. Bruno (and Casemiro) are neither finished or bad. They do need to recharge though.
That said, I don´t agree with the system.
What we are really missing this season is controlling the games. The two best players for that are Martinez (out) and Eriksen (Sub). Mainoo might be able do that at some point as well, but not in a Shambles-Team like ours right now. We have looked so much sharper in attacking with Eriksen on the pitch, and that goes for Bruno as well. I understand EtH, not starting the dane though. Eriksen needs steel around him, and Casemiro and our fourth/fifth choice Defense are not providing that. Last season we were looking at our best, when Martinez played out from defense with Eriksen finding the spaces where Bruno is at his best, which is between the lines. Eriksen was the center of the transmission, covered by Casemiro and Martinez/Varane. Bruno was the guy finding Rasford deep or going for goal himself. That brought us the Carling Cup and a return to the CL. Luke Shaw, doing creative things on the left is btw sorely missed as well. We do have a good midfield, but we can´t use it at the moment. Bad form and injuries are getting to us.
Højlund/Rasford in a fast playing transition team would be lethal...
That said, I don´t agree with the system.
What we are really missing this season is controlling the games. The two best players for that are Martinez (out) and Eriksen (Sub). Mainoo might be able do that at some point as well, but not in a Shambles-Team like ours right now. We have looked so much sharper in attacking with Eriksen on the pitch, and that goes for Bruno as well. I understand EtH, not starting the dane though. Eriksen needs steel around him, and Casemiro and our fourth/fifth choice Defense are not providing that. Last season we were looking at our best, when Martinez played out from defense with Eriksen finding the spaces where Bruno is at his best, which is between the lines. Eriksen was the center of the transmission, covered by Casemiro and Martinez/Varane. Bruno was the guy finding Rasford deep or going for goal himself. That brought us the Carling Cup and a return to the CL. Luke Shaw, doing creative things on the left is btw sorely missed as well. We do have a good midfield, but we can´t use it at the moment. Bad form and injuries are getting to us.
Højlund/Rasford in a fast playing transition team would be lethal...
Another great performance for Portugal. It’s weird what happens to players when they wear a United shirt. Though, in my opinion, he isn’t as bad as others in the United squad, he isn’t as good as when he plays for his country…
Always shines for his international team
There have certainly been periods when it was the other way round.
Players are allergic to good performances when wearing our shirt. So annoying
Ye but it never lasts long when it’s that way around
To be fair the quality surrounding him for our national team is levels above United, no disrespect.
Cancelo, Bernardo, Felix, Palhinha are world class players and can create chances by themselves. Ramos and Ronaldo are great poachers as well
United only has Eriksen who’s of similar quality on the ball as the first 3 I mentioned.
Edit: Forgot Rafael Leao. It truly is an embarrassment of riches
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Probably because it’s a wee bit easier to perform against Slovakia and Luxembourg than it is in the PL and CL.
I mean you say that but France and Spain have lost to Slovakia in the quals of yesteryear. Vaguely remember them beating close-to-prime Spain in 2014 or something? Your players still have to turn up, that's for sure. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29561500 (and that was one monster of a Spanish side.)
BUt what aboUt all tHe times He giVes the BaLL AwaY!!!
I think it's more about him facing teams like Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechenstein and Iceland rather than being surrounded by more quality.
Embarrassing post.
Your Bruno obsession is what's embarrassing. More than double the number of posts than the second most prolific poster in this thread. OBSESSED.
What is your point? I spend more time discussing Bruno than I do on other players? Oh, the horror!
Finishing your sentence with obsessed in caps lock. Are you 12?
Nope, not 12! My point is that your Bruno hatred is obsessive and weird. Why expend so much energy on a player you clearly don't like?!What is your point? I spend more time discussing Bruno than I do on other players? Oh, the horror!
Finishing your sentence with obsessed in caps lock. Are you 12?
I don't hate any player. I just don't think he is anywhere near good enough for our team if we want to compete for titles and be one of the best teams in the world. You won't find a single player who is both chaotic and lacking in ability in one of the best teams.
My posts in this thread are mostly arguing with other posters, rather than posts about Bruno, and arguments often used are how Bruno have won so many games for us, even when that's not true. And if it were, how many attacks has he single-handedly ruined, or counter-attacks wasted, or lost the ball in midfield due to lack of strength or press-resistance or just a bad pass that resulted in a goal for the opposition?
Kieran Trippier and TAA creates almost as many chances as him playing from right back, so why do we insist on using Bruno who have a lot of clear weaknesses as one of our third midfielders, the most important position in a team to control a game?
Wish United faced Luxembourg, Iceland every week.
Let's be real, the moment he faces real team, he always shit his pants. Matches like vs Morocco in the last Worldcup always bring the worst out of Bruno
Anyway it seems many managers agree his position is slightly on the right, where he can still do hollywood passes and/or giving ball away in least danger position.
Let's be real, the moment he faces real team, he always shit his pants. Matches like vs Morocco in the last Worldcup always bring the worst out of Bruno
Anyway it seems many managers agree his position is slightly on the right, where he can still do hollywood passes and/or giving ball away in least danger position.
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It’s the inverse of being a football fan. Signs up to a football club message board to spend most of their time slagging off one of the players. Such a strange thing to do. Not to mention that this player is so fit he plays every minute of every game. Thus ensuring yer man must consistently hate watching the team he supports.
But I don't think you'll find many that disagree with some of what you say - he can be wasteful on the ball - but you seem to go massively OTT about him whenever you post. He is still our most creative player and has been for seasons now. Also, the game has changed a great deal - comparing him to fullbacks in terms of chance creation now is no negative comment on him, considering how those players are coached to play. It's just your one note droning on and on about how shite Bruno is sort of ruins the thread.
Agreed. It's just so odd and makes the thread about circular arguments and pointless back and forth.
This is ridiculously ironic coming from you after your thousands of posts about Pogba being shit, despite him having almost similar output if you exclude penalties.
Really mate?
Wasteful on the ball? There are just so many more factors than that. Do you honestly think that's the reason people that post here want him out?
He can be our most creative player, but so what? Where has that taken us? What kind of top team plays with their game plan revolving around one player?
That plays a part, no doubt about it, but he was also good in the World Cup
Not JUST our most creative player either, the most creative player in the entire premier League, in European qualifying, 8th most chances created in the 2022 world cup... You can go on and on. It's not easy to do what he does with the regularity and utter brilliance he does it. He's an absolutely astonishingly gifted player, in the top 0.01%, he's a lovely bloke, he never gets injured. Keeps going no matter what going on around him, never leaks shit to the media... Almost the perfect player. If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that Manchester United fans could never -truly- hate Bruno Fernandes given how clearly talented he is.
This post will definitely also NOT get any seething, strangely furious replies I'm sure.
I don't think that many people that post here wasn't him out tbh. Which probably says something in itself.
This is the thing - he has so much going for him and has been one of, if not the highest performing player for us for some seasons now. I just can't comprehend how any of our fans think he's poor. It's bizarre
Take a look at the last few pages. There are a lot of posters that want him out, benched or replaced, so you're clearly wrong.
What does he have going for him? A midfielder who loses possession more than any other midfielder in the league, whines, shouts and points at his team mates for his own mistakes, or theirs. Always on the floor rolling around and a constant pain in the ass for referees, which is extremely annoying when he's wasting time when we're chasing a goal. Loses his head when we're not winning or playing good, which makes him play even worse. If you think his performances are okay and call them quality performances, then I'm just going to say you're happy with where we are as a team. A team that relies on moments to win games. What is bizarre is watching his performances every week and thinking "This is great. We will somehow win PL or CL in the future with him here playing like this. Fantastic performance!". Seriously baffling!
He has 2 goals, one of them being a penalty, and 1 assist in 8 PL games. Is that something he has going for him? We are 10th in case you had forgot.
I'm genuinely curious. Do you believe he performs great against big teams as well?
It depends what you mean by 'a lot'. I certainly wouldn't call the number in this thread a lot. The second part of your message is starting to sound a little hysterical, so it's probably time to step away. In terms of what he offers, though, see @GazTheLegend post above. If you can't see what he offers, when every united manager that's been in charge since Bruno joined has made him a key player, that's probably more a you thing than a Bruno thing.
The really surprising thing about these stats is that they are so close (especially the minutes) despite Pogba having been here twice as long. Mind you he also had Ibra or Lukaku up front rather than Martial, the old man and Weghorst.
For all his talent, unlike Bruno, he was absent or fighting with the manager far too often for us to be able to consistently depend on him.
You will never get the point posters here are arguing. You're too deep in the Bruno loving, it's actually quite unreal. Of course there are a lot of posters in this thread. We're also 38 United fans in my WhatsApp group, and there are 6 or 7 that want him to stay. The rest want him to be replaced, as do I. That's not to say that it is a lot of people, but it indicates that there are a lot of other fans that want him out as well, and not just a few.
He offers chances created, but at what expense? And what about the games he doesn't create chances? We're effectively ten players on the field. Why do teams such as Newcastle, Brighton, Tottenham, West Ham, Aston Villa and even Brentford create more than us, despite not having an attacking midfielder that leads all the chances created statistics? Even Everton are ahead of us.
As for your argument that every United manager that has been in charge since Bruno joined - they have one thing in common. They all failed. They all played McTominay and Fred consistently together with Bruno. It means nothing. They all liked Bruno, fine, but they also liked McTominay, so the argument is meaningless.
There isn't really any point in this discussion, because you're not answering my question or interested in a debate. You're replying with questions without answering mine, and lead the argument elsewhere.
This is probably because they're sick of having discussions on other topics coopted by you
'So what do we all think of Pogba's new barnet lads? Love the guy but his head looks like a peacock haha'
'IT'S MUCH BETTER THAN BRUNO'S AND AT LEAST HE KEEPS THE BALL AND IS PRESS RESISTANT UNLIKE BRUNO WHO ISN'T FIT TO WEAR THE SHIRT'
'OK zaafi mate totally agree yeh Bruno is the worst but anyone see the latest Love is Blind?
'BRUNO MUST BE BLIND THE WAY HE PASSES THE BALL.'
'OK lads good chat, same time next year?'