He has to play in the forward line, ideally just behind the striker. That's where he's at his best and can really influence a game.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Goals
- 15
- Assists
- 12
- Yellow cards
- 11
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Agreed, should also be banned from dropping deep
It’s almost like playing a player in his actual position is a good idea isn’t it?….
there are blind men who can see this very obvious fact…
Why can’t the manager?!?!
ETH has to take a lot of the blame for Bruno form. He has barely played as a sole 10, but when he has, more often than he has performed.
there are blind men who can see this very obvious fact…
Why can’t the manager?!?!
ETH has to take a lot of the blame for Bruno form. He has barely played as a sole 10, but when he has, more often than he has performed.
We can't afford to line up like that against anyone half decent. Our midfield gets murdered. The position he is best in doesn't exist at a successful football club.
If he can't lead the team then why be a captain? Why we play on transition? His main attribute.
I've said multiple times..
Bruno has been ever present since 2020.
We have changed managers ( FROM Ole - ETH) ,
GK( From De Gea to Onana) ,
other midfielders ( from McFred to Casemiro Mount/Eriksen) ,
Wingers (From James/Greenwood to Antony)
Strikers ( Martial to Hojlund) but miraculously we play the same same way we played in 2020. Even poorly now probably.
Him and Rashford have been the main stay in this team. If you can't see Bruno and Rashford DNA in how we play then nothing else people can do to help you.
Let me tell you plainly,
Until we move away from Bruno and Rashford we will never win anything big. You can quote this till 2027 or when Bruno leaves United.
And I will tell you what Rashford has over Bruno, Rashford delivers during big games. Something Bruno doesn't do.
And Rashford is younger & probably if we start playing a compressing possession football he might be coached to playing with his head up with combinations.
I said this few weeks back, its the small details.
Very good second half.
No one player can lead a team to trophies. Takes nigh on all eleven players to be top notch.
You're waiting for something that won't happen. No wonder you're dissapointed.
Atrocious first half. Ok second. Very nice ball for what should’ve been a Garnacho goal.
He’s so easy to bypass in midfield though. Doesn’t read things very well and gets sucked in too easily.
He’s so easy to bypass in midfield though. Doesn’t read things very well and gets sucked in too easily.
I get that people aren’t happy with Bruno, he’s not been great but in all honesty ETH is such a weird manager. His tactics are increadibly stupid at times. He was basically playing Bruno as a left back when we were getting forward in the first half. There is no way that’s not part of the set up. Bruno was positioned left as Reguilon went forward. Time and time again. There is just no logic behind that decision and Bruno will never look good playing from there.
He’s been playing Bruno in weird positions since the season started and his role seems to change from game to game - he should be between the midfield and the forward. He’s usually playing much deeper in the set up and he really isn’t a midfield maestro, that’s just not where he excels - currently he’s all over the place running around like a headless chicken. I don’t get it, I don’t get ETH and his tactics. The whole set up in the first half was increadibly bad and I fear he’ll just set us up for failure if he doesn’t change his approach.
He’s been playing Bruno in weird positions since the season started and his role seems to change from game to game - he should be between the midfield and the forward. He’s usually playing much deeper in the set up and he really isn’t a midfield maestro, that’s just not where he excels - currently he’s all over the place running around like a headless chicken. I don’t get it, I don’t get ETH and his tactics. The whole set up in the first half was increadibly bad and I fear he’ll just set us up for failure if he doesn’t change his approach.
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When was the last time he actually played consistently well? And I don’t just mean coming up with moments in between okay performances but actually played really well for a successive period of time? He’s become such a moments player that is seemingly more of a hindrance to the team playing well then he is a help. Yes he will come up with a great pass or goal here and there, like the pass today for Garnacho, but he’ll spend the rest of the game constantly giving the ball away and making the wrong decisions.
It was okay when he was producing incredible numbers but he doesn’t anymore. I just don’t think the occasional flashes of brilliance outweigh the constant flaws in his game.
It was okay when he was producing incredible numbers but he doesn’t anymore. I just don’t think the occasional flashes of brilliance outweigh the constant flaws in his game.
Not good enough tonight and not good enough for quite a while.
Can’t fault effort but we are so disjointed in midfield and he is a big part of the lack of control we (don’t) have
Can’t fault effort but we are so disjointed in midfield and he is a big part of the lack of control we (don’t) have
You can find my comment from pre season saying "any manager that thinks pushing Bruno away from lone #10 and deeper into midfield is a good idea deserves a sack".
I can't believe ETH has been here for over a year and still tries those tricks. Moving him away from #10 is a crime. Either play him in pure attacking role that he is effective at, or find a setup without Bruno as focal point. We have the squad to do it. But I also think this solution doesn't include Scott McTominay so what do I know.
I can't believe ETH has been here for over a year and still tries those tricks. Moving him away from #10 is a crime. Either play him in pure attacking role that he is effective at, or find a setup without Bruno as focal point. We have the squad to do it. But I also think this solution doesn't include Scott McTominay so what do I know.
I would go even further any Manager who thinks This Club could progress as a team and play good cohesive football with Bruno as regular is destined to fail and isn't good enough any way as he can't even figure out why we are the way we are .
That is a difficult discussion. Bruno is catch 22, yes he will create chances but will also lose the ball very often. So basically if you base you game on Bruno, it's always a calculated risk. Also, because of the way we play and have no patterns of play, it looks like Bruno is the only one capable of creating chances. I don't think that is true, not with Eriksen and Mount not in the team.
I would be fine if we played 4231 with Bruno as focal point if we're fixing other issues all around and plan for a formation switch. In that light I still think Mount will come good. However, what I think is complete lunacy is moving Bruno away from attacking role. He is an useless midfielder.
Playing McTominay as a second striker in front of Bruno I think deserves a minute of silence for the death of football.
I agree Playing Bruno anywhere other than where he is at his best is complete lunacy because If can't get his goals and assists then what even is the point of him in the team and Playing Mctominay as a second striker just reeks of the Man who has lost the plot completely and is begging to be put out of his misery .
I don't hold much expectation from Ten Hag any more but what I am really hoping is that he shows some courage and give some of Our youngsters a fair and extended run in the team to see if they can hack especially some new blood in the midfield who knows it might just save his job .
There are a few things he can do now, especially in midfield he can try different setups. So far he's been doing the same thing, but trying different players. But it's funny that actually 4231 with Eriksen saves his ass again.
I would also like for him to go back to 4231 with Casemiro, Eriksen and Mount with explicit instructions for Casemiro to Sit and hold for the time being and Start easing in Mainoo and Gore in deeper roles and Mejbri as sub for Mount may not work but What do we have to lose anymore .
We can play 433 with either Casemiro/ Amrabat holding and Eriksen - Mount in front. That midfield 3 on paper has enough creativity and legs as long as they all stay as an actual midfield block (that hasn't been the case so far as the two advanced midfielders have been part of the attacking formation). If Bruno really needs to be on the pitch, then play him RW. I quite like him there as long as he stays wide rather than get into the way of Eriksen and Mount.
I don't expect that to happen though. Eth will continue with his winning formula.
It's no surprise that once the game got stretched, after the goal, and the spaces became available, he really came to life. Our blessing and our curse... He saved Dalot's arse a few times, too, when the latter was sleeping out of position.
I was giving him the first half of that season. As for the stats there’s 13 penalties in that 28. We’ve not had that many penalties in the entire time since that season. It’s an outlier and we see since that he’s generally an 8/9 goals and 8/9 assists player.
That being said my post was in response to someone saying his ‘form’ at the start of the season….well that’s not quite the case. His form has been the same for years. The outlier is sometimes in the stats but his performances don’t vary too much. Mostly poor performances 9 games out of 10 and the odd run of 3/4 good games…but not many.
I agree that we aren't performing to the standards we're capable of but there are so many factors that contribute to our performances. Playing a high line with defenders who don't like or can't cover behind, pairing combinatory wingers like Sancho and Antony with full backs that don't specialise in attacking, using those wingers without an established centre forward to play off for the past 18 months, the lack of a true, tempo-controlling midfielder (my view is that players of this profile can exist in any of the 3 midfield roles), that we've been asking our sweeper GK to sit in his box since he was lobbed in pre-season, and so on...
We mustn't forget that our injury crisis has also played a huge role in how we've looked so far this season. Missing our best build-up defenders, never having a settled back 5/6 (with a new GK), our starting RW out of action, our sub LW/RW going AWOL and you can kind of understand why we sit back, lack cohesion in attack and have become reliant on moments rather than systemic opportunities.
Going back to Bruno, the narrative here is:
- We can only play one way with Bruno (which isn't true looking at last season, when partnered with Eriksen/Fred and Casemiro his style was so different to this season / under Ole).
- Bruno forces our game to be a certain way whenever he plays.
For the latter, last night is one of numerous examples where that doesn't seem to be the case at all... he played the most basic pivot role for the first half yesterday, covering full backs and recycling the ball in between our CBs holding for 2.5 minutes per action. In the second half he played higher up the pitch and as our movement improved, his passing became more progressive and his risk appetite adjusted accordingly. In the final 5-10 minutes of the game he slowed down the tempo and recycled the ball from a RM/CM position. In fact, is there a single other player in our squad that has demonstrated such willingness or discipline in carrying out varied, specialist roles for the team since ETH joined? Maybe Shaw (LB, WB, CB) or Eriksen, although the DMF experiment, when combined with De Gea's less than confident distribution, was a car crash.
BTW I won't say we played better in the second half purely because Bruno moved forward, but combined with Maguire playing more progressively, Eriksen entering the pitch to provide control and better movement from our attacking players and full backs, we looked so much more cohesive as a unit and Bruno in the 3rd midfielder role certainly complimented it.
Ten Hag is allergic to playing him in his best position.
Two questions:
- Do you think we've had more/less/the right amount of penalties since Klopp's outburst? Anyway, Bruno's stats are good, you've already referenced that in the past.
- Maybe I've been unfair on your binary usage of 'poor' vs 'good', how do Bruno's 9/12 game poor performances (as per the above) compare to other members in our squad, in your opinion? Tried to reflect your objective view to individual player performance below...
Shaw - Extremely low G/A despite playing on our most attacking side, downed tools vs Salah and Saka, had a handful of outstanding performances - POOR
Martinez - Played well until December, never looked the same following the World Cup until injury - POOR
Varane - Injured all the time, can't really say somebody's had a good season if they are barely available - POOR
Casemiro - Came in sloppy, had some great games, banned twice, worst player on the pitch on numerous occasions - POOR
Eriksen - Only played half the season through injury, was pedestrian vs energetic sides - POOR
Bruno - Low pass completion, forced the squad to play a specific way - POOR
Rashford - Barely scored from January onwards - POOR
Antony, AWB, Fred, Garnacho, Lindelof, Maguire, Martial, McTominay, Sancho, Weghorst also receive POOR ratings, which reflected in the team's performance: 3rd in the league and 2 cup finals is NOT the benchmark.
He was better second half but was helped by the fact Copenhagen decided to opt for a suicidal high line, which he's always been good at exploiting.
1. I think we’ve been treated terribly by officials ever since Klopps comments.
2. Are these your own player assessments because they aren’t mine?
My heart sinks every time he gives away a high risk / low reward pass and brings the opposition onto us. It’s not an uncommon occurrence during matches.
Seems to me the deeper he is, the greater that risk is.
He’s either being played in the wrong position, or isn’t the right player for ETH’s system.
Has been a great servant to us, a joy to watch, and a great antidote to some of the rotten players we’ve employed in recent times.
But if he can’t play his best position, and isn’t mature enough to be more measured from deeeper, then perhaps he deserves to play his football somewhere where he can play his best.
Seems to me the deeper he is, the greater that risk is.
He’s either being played in the wrong position, or isn’t the right player for ETH’s system.
Has been a great servant to us, a joy to watch, and a great antidote to some of the rotten players we’ve employed in recent times.
But if he can’t play his best position, and isn’t mature enough to be more measured from deeeper, then perhaps he deserves to play his football somewhere where he can play his best.
What exactly is his system though?
Play him as 10 in front of a proper compact 3 and behind split strikers Hojlund +1 ( coin flip between Rashford and Martial, since neither has done much of anything this season, league cup excepted, to merit starting).
I'd have Eriksen, Mainoo and Amrabat, and Mount to come in for one of the first two depending how things go and Case for Amrabat provided there's enough mobility left on the pitch in CM, then Antony for Bruno (I agree with arguments that he might be better as a 10 than as a winger) and Rash for Martial or vice versa...
I'd have Eriksen, Mainoo and Amrabat, and Mount to come in for one of the first two depending how things go and Case for Amrabat provided there's enough mobility left on the pitch in CM, then Antony for Bruno (I agree with arguments that he might be better as a 10 than as a winger) and Rash for Martial or vice versa...
Man Utd 0:3 Man City
How many expected assists did captain fantastic get today then?
He is an absolute pest for this club. Please keep him out of the next game, please!
Needs to be dropped. Besides he’s simply not good enough on the right and is a liability as he doesn’t track back and help the full back and keeps going inside.
Actually caused the 2nd goal with his pointless through ball that Dalot had to chase. Honestly he shouldn't be a starter anymore by next season, no matter who the manager is.
Can't remember hating a captain more. Awful player.
I want him gone.
Play him as #10 or don't play him at all.
Forget who but someone said last week that they hate watching when he plays and I can't help but agree. Can't wait until we no longer have to watch him week in week out.
Luxury player. Making him captain was a mistake, basically undroppable now.
Absolutely nothing player and pathetic ‘captain’ … honestly would rather have kept Maguire as captain.
Needs stripped as captain. Totally not up to the job