Can Bruno play as an 8?

[Skills]

Does he have it in his locker?

At the moment, he pretty much plays as a second striker. He's right up there with Martial and he's very good at it. So it's natural not to want to disturb what is working for him. But would we benefit from him playing a bit more like Silva and De Bruyne have done over the years, and allowing Pogba to play a bit further forward. De Bruyne has managed it over the years in Guardiola's system without sacrificing his productivity.

 

[DeeDee7]

All i can say is why? Bruno has better attributes for that advanced role and Pogba is more suited to the middle.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

He’s got a tremendous work rate so yes, it’s literally his positioning that screws us sometimes because he’s started to drift so far forward in the build up that it gives no options for Pogba and Matic.

 

[Leethal]

He’s got a tremendous work rate so yes, it’s literally his positioning that screws us sometimes because he’s started to drift so far forward in the build up that it gives no options for Pogba and Matic.

Yes, our most influential attacking player "screws us" by playing to his strengths, and increasing our attacking play ten fold in the process.

Ridiculous statement.

 

[Isotope]

I really think so. He has superb ball control, vision, and work rate. His tackling is much better than Scholes. He could be like Deco, a 10 at Porto, then an 8 with Barca.

 

[Revan]

No, he gives the ball away too much. You need to be much more economical in that position.

 

[Skills]

No, he gives the ball away too much. You need to be much more economical in that position.

So does De Bruyne. I don't think there's much difference in their passing percentages

 

[Revan]

So does De Bruyne. I don't think there's much difference in their passing percentages

81.5% for De Bruyne vs 75.7% for Bruno in EPL.
79.9% for De Bruyne vs 73.7% for Bruno in UCL for the former and Europa for the later.

It is actually quite significant (and KDB already gives the ball too much away, but Bruno reaches ridiculous levels of it). Essentially, every fourth time he has the ball, he loses it.

 

[Blood Mage]

Yes but he'd need to be properly coached into the role like Guardiola did with De Bruyne and I'm not sure Solskjaer is up to it.

 

[Skills]

81.5% for De Bruyne vs 75.7% for Bruno in EPL.
79.9% for De Bruyne vs 73.7% for Bruno in UCL for the former and Europa for the later.

It is actually quite significant (and KDB already gives the ball too much away, but Bruno reaches ridiculous levels of it). Essentially, every fourth time he has the ball, he loses it.

Man city recycle the ball a lot more than us.

Man Utd 19/20 : 527 passes per game at 84% accuracy

Man City 19/20 : 692 passes per game at 89% accuracy.

 

[bosnian_red]

Without a doubt IMO. He plays like a support striker right now, and while of course he is a bit too careless on the ball and has to tighten it up, I think he'd be much more controlled if he played as the 8. He's done it loads in the past, though it probably takes away from some of his effectiveness in the final third since he's forced deeper. Still though, he has an excellent range of passing, world class vision, excellent work rate, his positioning is very good as well. Wouldn't have any issues playing as an 8, I just think he'd adapt his role and be less forceful in playing the final ball. Right now he's the guy who we use to unlock defences whenever he gets the ball, so his 1 and only thought is to score or play a killer ball. That mentality would change if he was deeper naturally, and the passing percentage would go up and he wouldn't be so forceful with the ball.

In general I do think they would pair better with both of them acting as roaming 8's essentially (Pogba and Bruno), but you need the right coaching for it. Klopp for example would love Bruno I think, and Pep would without a doubt make that work. Ole's done well, but I haven't seen much evidence of next level midfield coaching with him (he's done well for the strikers though). It's fine though, I think Bruno being up there probably suits Martial more.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

So does De Bruyne. I don't think there's much difference in their passing percentages

De Bruyne's passing accuracy in the Prem was 81.5%. Bruno's was 75.7%.

But again, they're not playing in the same system and City monopolize/keep the ball better than we do.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He should and can.

This way our midfield shape is better and give more support to Pogba in midfield as well.

I just don't like how high up the field Bruno is.

 

[sammsky1]

Yes but he'd need to be properly coached into the role like Guardiola did with De Bruyne and I'm not sure Solskjaer is up to it.

Give it a rest

 

[Leethal]

81.5% for De Bruyne vs 75.7% for Bruno in EPL.
79.9% for De Bruyne vs 73.7% for Bruno in UCL for the former and Europa for the later.

It is actually quite significant (and KDB already gives the ball too much away, but Bruno reaches ridiculous levels of it). Essentially, every fourth time he has the ball, he loses it.

"KDB/Bruno gives the ball too much away"

Again, another absolutely ridiculous statement. These players are some of the most influential attacking players in the league - yet, people pick bones saying they give the ball away too much. It amazes me. You want them to play safe passes backwards and completely blunt their attacking instinct and nature, for the sake of a fecking stupid arbitrary and largely irrelevant percentage on a stat page?

If Bruno or KDB fecks up 3/4 passes in the attacking third, with a 25% overall stat percentage, (which they don't, they do a hell of a lot better than that), but the 4th one leads to a goal or decent attempt, I'll take that every single day of the week - as opposed to fecking around with the ball in midfield LVG style.

This place baffles me. Complain about not creating anything, then when we do, complain about giving the ball away by trying to create something.

What exactly do you fecking people want?

 

[Leethal]

Yes but he'd need to be properly coached into the role like Guardiola did with De Bruyne and I'm not sure Solskjaer is up to it.

Clown.

We went from creating nothing at all, ever, to being one of the most attacking teams around since Solskjaer's appointment. He joined us when we were a tumescent piece of shit, and since then, has instilled an attacking philosophy which goes completely against what our previous managers were instructing and had drilled into our players. It's a process, and we're moving forward at a rapid pace - yet Solskjaer isn't up to it? Give it a fecking rest, mate.

 

[Glorio]

"KDB/Bruno gives the ball too much away"

Again, another absolutely ridiculous statement. These players are some of the most influential attacking players in the league - yet, people pick bones saying they give the ball away too much. It amazes me. You want them to play safe passes backwards and completely blunt their attacking instinct and nature, for the sake of a fecking stupid arbitrary and largely irrelevant percentage on a stat page?

If Bruno or KDB fecks up 3/4 passes in the attacking third, with a 25% overall stat percentage, (which they don't, they do a hell of a lot better than that), but the 4th one leads to a goal or decent attempt, I'll take that every single day of the week - as opposed to fecking around with the ball in midfield LVG style.

This place baffles me. Complain about not creating anything, then when we do, complain about giving the ball away by trying to create something.

What exactly do you fecking people want?

PlayStation robots

In answer to the OP:
He can - in fact, I think he's quoted as saying that his ideal position is a mix between an 8 and a 10. If you remember his first game versus Wolves, at some point he dropped deeper and started dictating things.

Further up field, his job is solely to create, if he played deeper, he'd still try things but I suspect he'd be much tidier in possession.

 

[Sky1981]

We need to stop this.

X player is bad, try him in y
Y player is good, let's make him a Z

If it's broken chances are moving him around won't solve it. If it's not broken dont fix it

 

[Glorio]

We need to stop this.

X player is bad, try him in y
Y player is good, let's make him a Z

If it's broken chances are moving him around won't solve it. If it's not broken dont fix it

Unsure anyone is concerned about his current position. If I were to guess, the OP is probably more concerned about how isolated Pogba looks at times, and is more about playing a system that gives us better balance and control as a team in midfield by having more bodies there.

 

[Sky1981]

Unsure anyone is concerned about his current position. If I were to guess, the OP is probably more concerned about how isolated Pogba looks at times, and is more about playing a system that gives us better balance and control as a team in midfield by having more bodies there.

Or just buy or put someone else for that.

Moving bruno from his strenght position where he's on form will create a gap in his previous position.

If it doesnt break dont fix it. When it breaks then we try something. We're on form, why rock the boat

 

[Glorio]

Or just buy or put someone else for that.

Moving bruno from his strenght position where he's on form will create a gap in his previous position.

If it doesnt break dont fix it. When it breaks then we try something. We're on form, why rock the boat

We don't have to play one way and the system would depend on the opposition I guess. I wouldn't say we're on form (definitely not the last 4 or so games), we are doing reasonably well and winning games, but we have struggled a bit against high pressing sides, and we have seemed rather outnumbered in midfield quite a few times. Considering we play Sevilla next, who like to dominate the midfield, I can see why the poster is thinking along those lines. Not necessarily for the next game (as it's rather high profile to be trying out a new approach), but teams playing 4-3-3 generally look more suited to control games. It's simply a different system with the same personnel though. Our attackers are quite mobile so withdrawing Bruno slightly and pushing Pogba slightly higher up the pitch seems an intriguing option to have.

 

[JayLeap]

I heard the coaching staff has some youngster on it that played a couple matches in the centre of the park. Maybe he could give it a try.

Yes but he'd need to be properly coached into the role like Guardiola did with De Bruyne and I'm not sure Solskjaer is up to it.

 

[tenpoless]

If you take him out of the current role, you will lose a lot of things:

1. Link up plays
2. Less freekicks near the box/penalty kicks
3. High press
4. Less goals and assists

Is it really worth it? no. Because Bruno doesn't seem to play a traditional number 10 but not exactly a second striker either. His work rate shouldn't be underestimated, he presses a lot up front. He's adept at this unique role so don't change anything.

This reminds me of Mata when he was a world class #10. Could he play as a right wing/right midfielder? yes. But then you diminished his contributions.

 

[mazhar13]

I wouldn't mind seeing him play as an 8 as long as he continues to be a goalscoring threat and enters the box. As a #10, he has been picking up the ball in deeper areas and becoming more influential as a result. Defensively, however, he'd have to drop deeper and follow runners more as a #8. With that, though, we miss out on his ability to facilitate quick counters with his ball retention and quick passing. To compensate for this, we'll need Greenwood to come inside and pick up the ball (he doesn't track back anyways), and it can allow for Pogba to push up and be more of an attacking threat.

 

[bond19821982]

He can but need a better coach. If Pep takes over, he will do a Fred,Pogba and Bruno midfield.

He has all the qualities that's needed to play as a 8. Just need some mentoring like Pep did for KDB.

 

[Tarrou]

81.5% for De Bruyne vs 75.7% for Bruno in EPL.
79.9% for De Bruyne vs 73.7% for Bruno in UCL for the former and Europa for the later.

It is actually quite significant (and KDB already gives the ball too much away, but Bruno reaches ridiculous levels of it). Essentially, every fourth time he has the ball, he loses it.

Its their job to take risks and that includes low percentage plays because the reward is high when it comes off. Do you think KDB couldnt play it safe and get 95% pass completion if he was told to keep possession?

If Bruno was asked to play 8 he wouldnt play as many high risk passes because its a different role that comes with added risk of losing possession in deeper areas of the pitch.

 

[Mr PG]

The guy is ridiculously football intelligent and has put up ridiculous numbers in just half a season. Where he's playing is fine, the only adjustment we'll need in big games is Fred for Matic.
Matic needs time on the ball and is more adept at unlocking packed defenses but the true reason Ole started with Fred against Copenhagen is he knew they'd come out swinging and we needed Fred's mobility.

 

[Mr PG]

Everything Bruno does on the pitch has a purpose or intent to it. Always looking for a way to unlock the defenses or get the ball to the attackers. A lot of what some here are calling giving away the ball is him playing passes into space nobody picks up

 

[Strelok]

Of course yes. He basically can play any position in the midfield. It's just because he has a great goal output that it's better to move him closer to the goal. I doubted his long shoot before he came, but look, this guy could score at least 5 goals a season just with his long shoot alone. He scored 2 already and hit the post twice since he came I think. People here talk a lot about Neves long shoot but truth is the guy only scored 3 the whole season.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Yes, our most influential attacking player "screws us" by playing to his strengths, and increasing our attacking play ten fold in the process.

Ridiculous statement.

Our attacking play doesn’t mean shit if we can’t get into the final third, which you would understand if you actually read either mine or the OP’s statement, as that is where the issue lies with our midfield and build up play.

 

[jem]

Yes, our most influential attacking player "screws us" by playing to his strengths, and increasing our attacking play ten fold in the process.

Ridiculous statement.

People branding fairly innocuous statements of opinion with words like 'ridiculous' does get a bit tiring. Is it really that hard to just engage and offer a counter-argument?

 

[eltigreFalcao]

PlayStation robots

In answer to the OP:
He can - in fact, I think he's quoted as saying that his ideal position is a mix between an 8 and a 10. If you remember his first game versus Wolves, at some point he dropped deeper and started dictating things.

Further up field, his job is solely to create, if he played deeper, he'd still try things but I suspect he'd be much tidier in possession.

This, and also Pogba would not be so solitaire behind the attack and get more involved. With these two playing at their potential both in attack, build up recycling and such, we would have a very splendid MF in the years to come, hopefuly adding an euqally competent DM. 433 sounds more like it to me.

 

[DannyDee]

I think he could in a pinch, but he would have to be much more careful in the first 2/3rds of the field and I don’t think it’s an ideal usage of his skill set. It’s doable in 3 man-mid, doing it in a 2 man mid night work at home vs weaker teams (and he would likely need Fred or Matic with him, not Pogba).

 

[Yagami]

Probably not. He's weak under pressure and is very sloppy in possession. It will cause us a lot of danger at the back if he's losing the ball cheaply when deep, which will be inevitable.

 

[Jackal981]

"KDB/Bruno gives the ball too much away"

Again, another absolutely ridiculous statement. These players are some of the most influential attacking players in the league - yet, people pick bones saying they give the ball away too much. It amazes me. You want them to play safe passes backwards and completely blunt their attacking instinct and nature, for the sake of a fecking stupid arbitrary and largely irrelevant percentage on a stat page?

If Bruno or KDB fecks up 3/4 passes in the attacking third, with a 25% overall stat percentage, (which they don't, they do a hell of a lot better than that), but the 4th one leads to a goal or decent attempt, I'll take that every single day of the week - as opposed to fecking around with the ball in midfield LVG style.

This place baffles me. Complain about not creating anything, then when we do, complain about giving the ball away by trying to create something.

What exactly do you fecking people want?

Bunch of donkeys innit ? People moan players like Cleverley who has absurdly high passing rate but passing sideways, but also moan when player like Bruno make attacking passes and have lower completion percentage. What do these people want ?

 

[Isotope]

Probably not. He's weak under pressure and is very sloppy in possession. It will cause us a lot of danger at the back if he's losing the ball cheaply when deep, which will be inevitable.

What? One of his best skill is ball retention. He's rarely dispossessed because his ball control is superb.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

No, he gives the ball away too much. You need to be much more economical in that position.

This.He gives the ball away too much and he’s also not physically robust even to play as a 8.Pogba is a beast physically,Fernandez wouldn’t be very good in the Pogba role.He needs to play as a 10...

 

[Leethal]

Our attacking play doesn’t mean shit if we can’t get into the final third, which you would understand if you actually read either mine or the OP’s statement, as that is where the issue lies with our midfield and build up play.

Your statement might hold some water if we were struggling to create chances. Except we are creating plenty, and are one of the best attacking teams around currently. We have no issues - at all - getting into the final third. You're moaning for the sake of moaning. Give it a rest.

 

[Leethal]

People branding fairly innocuous statements of opinion with words like 'ridiculous' does get a bit tiring. Is it really that hard to just engage and offer a counter-argument?

I did. Check the post below it. Also, I'll call a spade a spade. If someone's saying something completely ridiculous, I'll say so. It's not my issue if you have a problem with it; it's yours.

Also - Since you mentioned the word tiring, let me state what's actually tiring: The incessant whining and complaining about everything and everything to do with our club. Bruno has been a complete revelation for us; yet here we have, people complaining about him. And to top it off, someone actually criticising the best player in the league, KDB! It's actually borderline insanity.

 

[Yagami]

What? One of his best skill is ball retention. He's rarely dispossessed because his ball control is superb.

Not for me. He's pretty easily outmuscled when an opposition player is on him. There have been times he's turned well under pressure, but they're few and far between the moments of being dispossessed a bit too easily.

This is something people either gloss over or don't notice. People say he only gives the ball away trying to create but he gives it away just as much with - what should be - simple passes, and an inability to shield the ball under pressure.