Hate to break it to you but that's an attacker even if not by name, especially when he takes up positions on the wings and consistently makes runs in behind the defense. The incarnation of a 10 that he's played most of his career is closer to an attacker (what do you think a front 4 means?) than a midfielder and that's not an opinion. Comparing his stats to a more traditional center mid or defensive mid, whether they're used box to box or deeper lying playmakers is pointless, but I suppose if you feel like it helps you win an argument call him a midfielder all you want.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 37
- Goals
- 6
- Assists
- 19
- Yellow cards
- 5
What would De Bruyne be classed as?
If you have to put Bruno into either the midfielder or the attacker category, then he's of course a midfielder.
1. His secondary position is central midfield.
2. Whenever he plays on the wing it's because of his crosses and passes, not because of his pace, dribbling or shooting.
3. Look at his position whenever we're chasing a goal with a high defensive line under Ten Hag, Amorim and recently Carrick. He'll drop almost as deep as the centrer-backs!
1. His secondary position is central midfield.
2. Whenever he plays on the wing it's because of his crosses and passes, not because of his pace, dribbling or shooting.
3. Look at his position whenever we're chasing a goal with a high defensive line under Ten Hag, Amorim and recently Carrick. He'll drop almost as deep as the centrer-backs!
Not sure this helps your point.
Of the two he's absolutely a midfielder over an attacker, is it really even a debate? Even when he's playing in an advanced midfield position position he still drops deep reasonably regularly as well as chasing back more than traditional 'attackers' do.
Apart from under Amorim he has played the role behind the striker. Everybody has been giving out about Amorim playing him in midfield. Why? This is barmy
KDB is even more of an attacker than Bruno. He frequently played as an inverted attacking winger earlier in his career too. There's a huge difference between how Bruno is deployed under Carrick and how he was deployed under Amorim as a traditional midfielder, and the difference in his G/A numbers reflect it. Different systems use the 10 in different ways, but the whole point of playing Bruno in front of a double pivot, which is when he's been at this best, is to allow him to spend more time as the fourth attacker. His "down" seasons mentioned by another poster came when when Ten Hag decided to go away from that in his second season IIRC.
Comparing Bruno's stats to KDB is a lot more relevant than comparing his stats to a traditional CM.
But I don't think anyone is arguing with the assertion that Bruno does his best work thinking forward as opposed to backward. It's just that, of the two, he clearly fits the profile of midfielder more than attacker. He's a forward thinking midfielder, for sure, but if you've got to place him it's as a midfielder for me.
Then why the furore when Ruben played him in midfield?
Now that we back in the CL, almost there but we're really there, keeping paramount is paramount. There's every reason to believe he has three great seasons left in him and he's someone who can help us attract the talent we need to at least challenge for the PL and CL trophies next season. I regard him as an attacking midfielder, but whatever anyone wants to call his role the man is the heart of our attack.
By this flawed logic defensive midfielders are defenders.
No one would class De Bruyne and Bruno as attackers instead of midfielders. Except those who want to diminish the accomplishments of a certain midfielder by comparing their stats to strikers and wingers.
No one would class De Bruyne and Bruno as attackers instead of midfielders. Except those who want to diminish the accomplishments of a certain midfielder by comparing their stats to strikers and wingers.
If I bought your takes for what they’re worth and sold them for what you think they’re worth I’d be a rich man. Bruno’s numbers hold up against most attacking midfielders, but if you think comparing his numbers to Zubimendi, Gravenberch or Tonali means anything, have yourself a blast!
I don’t think anyone is going to buy what you are offering.
The only midfielder comparable to Bruno is De Bruyne, who played for a high possession team bought by cheating the rules.
Really sucks Haaland has been scoring again or he may have won the player of the year.
Not a fan of paramount tbh
It appears I'm infatuated with the word "paramount".
But while we're on the subject of paramount, there's a small city about 15 miles from Los Angeles by the name of Paramount. And it was in that city, far from any naturally occurring snow or ice, where The Zamboni was invented. Not that this has anything to do with Bruno though.
He played him much deeper in midfield (a position in which he still performed pretty well). As mentioned, he does his best work when played further forward in midfield. But that doesn't make him a forward.
Excited to watch this. Bruno's interviews with ex-United players are usually very insightful.
I'd rate most 10's as attackers personally. I grew up with 442, it'd just be weird to think of cantona or del piero as midfielders.
I guess i'd consider Seedorf and Iniesta 10's of a kind and i'd call them midfielders. I'd probably distinguish them as 3rd midfielders personally.
I guess i'd consider Seedorf and Iniesta 10's of a kind and i'd call them midfielders. I'd probably distinguish them as 3rd midfielders personally.
Yes, but most experts and pundits would. Carragher recently did a top 10 PL midfielders on Sky Sports (?). Cantona, Bergkamp and Rooney didn't even make the shortlist. Why? Because they are not midfielders. But players like Bruno and De Bruyne obviously are.
You can't rely on the starting XI graphic before kickoff to make a conclusion about an attacking midfielder. Strengths, weaknesses, role in the team, average position... That's how you learn if the no.10 is mostly a midfielder or an attacker. I think the answer tends to be obvious too.
Out of curiosity: do you not count wingers as attackers, even if the formation is 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1?
Wingers - I probably would in both of them formations. Less so in 4231. I'd lean more towards midfielder in a 442. Maybe they're progressing from one to the other through the 3 formations.
I can definitely see Bruno as a midfielder but it depends on the game and the time in the match. He's basically a centre back at times when chasing games. I probably wouldn't be too specific with him, he does everything.
De Bruyne outside of one season i see as an attacker, same as del piero, totti, bergkamp. They'd be the closest comparison i could think of.
Its fluid enough. I wouldn't get hung up on it.
Also, Carragher is a troll. He left De Bruyne off his shortlist as well. He only included one 10 on his list and the reason why is obvious.
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Actually, almost half his top 10 were attacking midfielders; Fabregas, Toure, Lampard and De Bruyne. I believe the last two were ranked high.
But he controversially omitted David Silva from the shortlist. Though to be fair, he's a tricky one because of his dribbling abilities and past as a winger.
He always comes across as a really decent down to earth bloke. The way some media and rival fans try to portray him as a bad egg is completely unfair.
Deep down the issue they have is he's really good at football and he plays for Man United.
Decent enough interview, even if Rooney isn't the best interviewer. Was nice to hear Bruno say he didn't want to leave the club in a bad moment. Good to see Rooney push for Bruno getting the POTY over any of the league winners.
The vibes are terrific at the moment
Hope we can tie him down to one last contract for the rest of his prime
Hope we can tie him down to one last contract for the rest of his prime
Man Utd 2:1 Brentford
Another assist today
POTY
The delay with that pass to draw the defenders in was beautiful
If Amad didn't play using 2% of his brain then I reckon Bruno would have broken or equaled the assist record today. Good game overall, played some beautiful passes as usual.
He's so reliable - lovely assist and would have had another bad Amad not gone bafflingly early. Also so much better in tight spaces with the ball these days and, as per, ran his absolute heart out. Also nice to see him tell Sesko to go celebrate with the fans after his goal.
19 assists. What a player. Him keeping possession instead of passing it forward to the groans of OT was funny to see after all the complaints about his ball retention.
I do think he tired out a bit at he end. We need to improve as a whole to make sure he doesn't have to press like a madman alone.
I do think he tired out a bit at he end. We need to improve as a whole to make sure he doesn't have to press like a madman alone.
My captain. I have no words.
I do miss seeing him shoot. Hopefully once he gets the assist record, he'll start being a little more selfish, as he's one of our best finishers from distance, and he's always looking for a pass at the moment.
Also, contrary to most people on here, I have missed his occasional moaning at the ref, especially after seeing a couple of ridiculous decisions go against us over the past few weeks. I loved seeing him push Thiago when he was blocking him from speaking to the ref!
Also, contrary to most people on here, I have missed his occasional moaning at the ref, especially after seeing a couple of ridiculous decisions go against us over the past few weeks. I loved seeing him push Thiago when he was blocking him from speaking to the ref!
Let's all be honest here. He's gotta pass a penalty he hits. And I'd like to see Casemiro who he passes it to. Just cause Henry and Pires fecked it up doesn't mean we will.
That was such a classy assist. Throughout that counter, it seemed beyond obvious that Mbuemo on the right, running into space, was the right option.
But that extra second delay in holding on to the ball and drawing more defenders into him before reversing the ball to Sesko took everyone by surprise and Sesko didn't disappoint either with a lovely fake and finish.
Pretty okay-ish performance otherwise though, I felt. Can't really blame him much because he pretty much had no runners either side of him in the second half to release the ball to, and was basically just tracking back and helping our defense our.
Side note: Anyone else feel the fact that he's so close to the assist record is slightly affecting the way he releases the ball or chooses his passes? Felt this especially with that Casemiro long shot that went just wide. Bruno had the ball just outside the box, and I think he could have either taken a first time shot with his quality, or just floated the ball into the box since we had numbers. Instead, he just laid it back to Casemiro for a chancey-shot that was always going to be a tougher one.
Also with the two offside chances Amad had. The header was a beautifully floated cross to the backpost, but for the second one, I was surprised Bruno even released Amad on the overlap since it was quite clear that he was offside (Amad really should hold and time his run better).
But that extra second delay in holding on to the ball and drawing more defenders into him before reversing the ball to Sesko took everyone by surprise and Sesko didn't disappoint either with a lovely fake and finish.
Pretty okay-ish performance otherwise though, I felt. Can't really blame him much because he pretty much had no runners either side of him in the second half to release the ball to, and was basically just tracking back and helping our defense our.
Side note: Anyone else feel the fact that he's so close to the assist record is slightly affecting the way he releases the ball or chooses his passes? Felt this especially with that Casemiro long shot that went just wide. Bruno had the ball just outside the box, and I think he could have either taken a first time shot with his quality, or just floated the ball into the box since we had numbers. Instead, he just laid it back to Casemiro for a chancey-shot that was always going to be a tougher one.
Also with the two offside chances Amad had. The header was a beautifully floated cross to the backpost, but for the second one, I was surprised Bruno even released Amad on the overlap since it was quite clear that he was offside (Amad really should hold and time his run better).
He definitely should have shot at that one layoff from Sesko deep in the second half. Hope he breaks that record!
In terms of goals and assists, he's had a direct hand in almost half of our goals this season. We'd be utterly lost without him.
Here's hoping he breaks the PL assist record, he deserves to have his name in the PL history books, and unfortunately the chances of us winning it in the next year or two while he's still at the top of his game are infinitesimal.
Here's hoping he breaks the PL assist record, he deserves to have his name in the PL history books, and unfortunately the chances of us winning it in the next year or two while he's still at the top of his game are infinitesimal.
The delay with his assist today was a thing of beauty. To have that level of composure at that exact moment when 99.9% of players would play it a second or two before. Just a joy to watch.