Can Bruno continue in the same position with Ronaldo in our 1st xi?

[Greck]

Missed when this thread was posted but actually kind of surprised how much the OP got right about their positional chemistry and role overlap. I'm guessing he wasn't actually reading the future and these things were already just obvious to anyone who watched Portugal. If Ronaldo were younger I would consider moving on from Bruno because they have the world's most underwhelming No10+No9 connection for players of their quality.

Ronaldo won't playmake but can actually drop into positions Bruno normally occupies, link the midfield better than Bruno and still get on the scoresheet. He's old and can't be built around but shows versatility every now and then. When he plays with Bruno he limits himself to poaching and Bruno limits himself to finding Ronaldo. The worst part is they play for each other and still don't make each other better, maybe even worsen the attack by doing so. I don't think it's a matter of "fault", it's a matter of fit. I'm however not convinced we should be choosing either to build around.

 

[cyril C]

Missed when this thread was posted but actually kind of surprised how much the OP got right about their positional chemistry and role overlap. I'm guessing he wasn't actually reading the future and these things were already just obvious to anyone who watched Portugal. If Ronaldo were younger I would consider moving on from Bruno because they have the world's most underwhelming No10+No9 connection for players of their quality.

Ronaldo won'y playmake but can actually drop into positions Bruno normally occupies, link the midfield better than Bruno and still get on the scoresheet. He's old and can't be built around but shows versatility every now and then. When he plays with Bruno he limits himself to poaching and Bruno limits himself to finding Ronaldo. The worst part is they play for each other and still don't make each other better, maybe even worsen the attack by doing so. I don't think it's a matter of "fault", it's a matter of fit. I'm however not convinced we should be choosing either to build around.

Agree with most parts except the last sentence. WHY would you not build around Bruno? Assuming he will extend his contract, and CR isn't going to get any younger.

 

[Greck]

Agree with most parts except the last sentence. WHY would you not build around Bruno? Assuming he will extend his contract, and CR isn't going to get any younger.

Just my opinion but I don't think we should build around anyone who isn't all time great, especially not a player with general play as up and down as Bruno. He is good but the stats inflate his impact over 90 minutes. Even now I feel I can make a safe prediction on what kind of performance Bruno is about to serve up against Athletico in 2 days time. He isn't that guy. Just because we are lacking in quality doesn't mean we should build around the best of a bad bunch. If we get good enough to not need moments to win matches it will be necessary to have our best players give great general contribution.

 

[tenpoless]

They can play together ONLY IF the manager is smart enough to figure out how they should play and instructed them specifically to do so, so overlap wont happen too much. I dont think Bruno cant play as purely a no 10 and not a second striker. But if theyre both free to do whatever the feck they want then of course its a recipe for a disaster. And if you look at the other players over the years its not only them. At times you saw the left side being overloaded with 4 players while the right had none. If thats not an overlap I dont know what that is. Can they play together now? absolutely.

 

[cyril C]

Just my opinion but I don't think we should build around anyone who isn't all time great, especially not a player with general play as up and down as Bruno. He is good but the stats inflate his impact over 90 minutes. Even now I feel I can make a safe prediction on what kind of performance Bruno is about to serve up against Athletico in 2 days time. He isn't that guy. Just because we are lacking in quality doesn't mean we should build around the best of a bad bunch. If we get good enough to not need moments to win matches it will be necessary to have our best players give great general contribution.

When you build around a player, doesn't mean there should not be any alternate route. Even City can attack without KDB, although Barca is taking a hard time to adapt to life without Messi. We seem to have that mentality early part of season when every ball was delivered to CR, so when his goal dried up, we drew blank even against the like of Watford.

Build around only means we recruit certain attribute of players that supplement or compliment Bruno, to make him better. Should he fail (to show up), or injured, then there must be alternate players who can create opportunity without going through Bruno. Our recruitment policy is Harrords sale - tends to emphases on price tag, overload with LHS players, or whoever is available, no strategy whatsoever.

 

[Pablo18th]

The manager and his technical staff have up to 6 days a week to figure out how and where to play his best players. If on the 7th day it doesn't show on the pitch, they are not doing the work.

 

[Highfather_24]

If 20% of his attempts are successful and result in a chance, 80% dont, and leaves our team open to counter. So even though he has great stats, his net impact is a negative on the team. He needs to look at other mature AMs like KdB, Odegaard etc to see how much more efficient and smart their play is. They dont play like kids, where everytime you look for the final ball. Bruno needs to play more as a midfielder, and try the dangerous balls more selectively, and keep possession otherwise.

The problem with Bruno is he is a second striker. And both Ronaldo and Bruno play best when they are playing off a main CF. And we are asking them to play together.

 

[Highfather_24]

Right now we play a 433/4231 hybrid system. On the ball its a 4-3-3 :

--------------------DDG
Dalot--Varane--Maguire--Shaw
-------------------Matic
----------Bruno---------Fred
----Elanga---Ronaldo--Sancho

But off the ball to compensate for Ronaldo's lack of pressing, we turn into a 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 off the ball :

--------------------DDG
Dalot--Varane--Maguire--Shaw
-------------Matic-----Fred
--Elanga----------------------Sancho
-----------Bruno-----Ronaldo

Sometimes Pogba comes in for Fred or Bruno. And Pogba is better at keeping the ball, but not as energetic as Bruno.

 

[The Boy]

Your attack looked alot more cohesive against Spurs than it has in a while, with Bruno out of the picture the link up play between Sancho and Ronaldo was something else.

 

[harms]

Ronaldo won't playmake but can actually drop into positions Bruno normally occupies, link the midfield better than Bruno and still get on the scoresheet.

Aside from an occasional great flick Ronaldo (this version) is absolutely abysmal at this. Worse than Bruno.

 

[Greck]

Aside from an occasional great flick Ronaldo (this version) is absolutely abysmal at this. Worse than Bruno.

This version will occasionally play one match every couple months where he links up the midfield better than Bruno. It's a callback to when he was the best but it is most definitely there. Flashes of true Balon D'or play. It's highly unfortunate Ronaldo only plays poacher nowadays because his play as a complete striker can be brilliant. Bruno isn't actually anything special at linking the midfield. He has a wicked final ball and a wicked long pass but for the most part that's it. It's not even consistent and he's prone to power outages where his technique completely abandons him. His positioning, dropping into spaces and play in tight spaces are average to okay. His rep as a midfielder is carried entirely by his wicked final ball. He's like a second striker hybrid except his finishing is also inconsistent. For me he and Pogba don't do enough for their positions outside of their one elite skill and it starts to really show in the big games.

 

[Bwuk]

If 20% of his attempts are successful and result in a chance, 80% dont, and leaves our team open to counter. So even though he has great stats, his net impact is a negative on the team. He needs to look at other mature AMs like KdB, Odegaard etc to see how much more efficient and smart their play is. They dont play like kids, where everytime you look for the final ball. Bruno needs to play more as a midfielder, and try the dangerous balls more selectively, and keep possession otherwise.

The problem with Bruno is he is a second striker. And both Ronaldo and Bruno play best when they are playing off a main CF. And we are asking them to play together.

He gives away the ball a similar percentage of time to KdB. It's our inability to defend that hurts us more.

 

[DJ_21]

Haven’t we been playing him in a midfield 3 recently with Ronaldo? Isn’t that exactly where he plays for Portugal and they don’t seem to have a problem.

 

[romufc]

Haven’t we been playing him in a midfield 3 recently with Ronaldo? Isn’t that exactly where he plays for Portugal and they don’t seem to have a problem.

This is a Manutd fans. The one thing some fans like is to find players they dislike and build an agenda. No other fan base makes videos of their own players losing the ball, mistakes than United's.

Bruno has assisted Ronaldo in games this season, just because the rest of the team is dysfunctional, it means they can't play together.

Then, the same people when its two different players will say, great players find a way of playing with each other.

 

[#07]

Your attack looked alot more cohesive against Spurs than it has in a while, with Bruno out of the picture the link up play between Sancho and Ronaldo was something else.

It was much better against Watford. We just didn't score.

Bruno and Ronaldo play fine together. Some of the assists Bruno has given Ronaldo this season, especially in the Champions League, are out of this world. The outside of the foot cross against Young Boys and the backheel in Bergamo stand out.

Bruno will play the role Pogba was asked to do against Spurs and do it better.

If there has been an 'issue' with Bruno and Ronaldo this season its simply that they've both been massively off form. Not because of how they're playing with each other e.g., Bruno didn't miss an open goal against Boro after Ronaldo pressed the goalkeeper because it was Ronaldo pressing the goalkeeper. He missed an open goal because he stuffed an easy chance.

I think people see a dysfunctional XI and start reading into it stuff that isn't there. If the team as a whole starts playing better both Ronaldo and Bruno will have better outputs. I don't think, for example, that Ronaldo would've been less likely to score any of the three goals he scored against Spurs with Bruno playing instead of Pogba. Its not like Ronaldo refuses to shoot from range when Bruno's playing!

 

[Greck]

I think people see a dysfunctional XI and start reading into it stuff that isn't there. If the team as a whole starts playing better both Ronaldo and Bruno will have better outputs. I don't think, for example, that Ronaldo would've been less likely to score any of the three goals he scored against Spurs with Bruno playing instead of Pogba. Its not like Ronaldo refuses to shoot from range when Bruno's playing!

It's okay to think people are overreacting to poor form but blaming the team for their wonky fit is wrong. Under Rangnick the team was actually playing very well when both players were stinking up the joint those 3-6 weeks that ended our FA cup and top 4 hopes. It's not the team's fault. That was the most functional we looked in years.

 

[#07]

It's okay to think people are overreacting to poor form but blaming the team for their wonky fit is wrong. Under Rangnick the team was actually playing very well when both players were stinking up the joint those 3-6 weeks that ended our FA cup and top 4 hopes. It's not the team's fault. That was the most functional we looked in years.

I didn't mean that its not their fault, I mean that when the team as a whole is playing with confidence and belief we'll naturally see their levels improve.

I accept that to some extent its a chicken and egg. For example, other players seeing Ronaldo bag a hat-trick will gain a touch of belief because they know they have a player who can dig them out of it. However, I think a lot of people just look at the results and go: 'Oh well United didn't beat Watford with Ronaldo and Bruno playing but they beat Spurs without Bruno, therefore Bruno must be the problem.' I think that's slightly simplistic. Ronaldo didn't hit Elanga with the goal gaping against Watford because Bruno was on the pitch, Bruno didn't fluff a one v one against Watford because of Ronaldo. Them being on the pitch together is not the reason for their substandard performances. Its more a case that everyone has been playing tense since we f'd it against Boro, which has shown in our performances.

 

[Green_Red]

Seems both perform better when the other is absent. Sorry to say Id rather Ronaldo starts. Maybe Bruno needs to be pushed out wide or play deeper.