So how come we look like a football team again?

Fortitude

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Bruno?
Players returning from injury?
Ole?

We couldn't string two passes together a couple of months back, now? We look calm, controlled and very sure of what we want to do out there.

What has happened? Multiple catalysts, or something else?
 
It's simple. You drop your bad players and you bring in good players who actually execute plans well.
 
Ole is actually a good manager. Managers have potential too.

Those people who said he is clueless should just bury their head, because in reality, they are the clueless ones.
 
Ole is building a long-term squad. For the first time in 7 years and at times its fantastic to see it unfold.

Imagine when we throw 2-3 signings in at the summer, the decision making gets better, they gel even more, and we truly click another 12-18 months down the line.
 
Bruno appears to be the piece that was missing to give us that bit of extra quality and spark. I was down for most of the season and didn't think Ole looked up to the task, but I am liking the foundation I'm seeing now with this key January addition.
 
Every team needs some top attacking talent to link things up. Pereira and Lingard wouldn't start for the sides in the relegation zone in their best positions, so of course we'd look really shit and unimaginative having them start for us. Replace them with a proper world class creative player like Bruno, and suddenly it's the missing piece. Everyone steps it up, everyone believes more in themselves and we have that added composure and touch in attack.
 
Lets be real. Its 90 % the addition of Bruno. He just makes us tick and makes us a very very good team.
 
Bruno. What's that, 5 assists and a few goals now in just a handful of games? If Ed had bothered to get his cheque book out in the summer to sign a creative player we'd probably have a lot more points on the board by now and top 4 would be a certainty.
 
Lots of things.

Shaw looking good at LB again.
Maguire and AWB solidfying our defence.
Fred running about 180 mins worth inn 90
Martial scoring
Bruno obviously coming and in creating on top of all of that.

Our back and midfield is solid, I really think we just need to add some top quality wide forwards.
 
We've often looked a decent team this season (and for parts of last season) when we've had good players on the pitch. We've had to play some subpar players due to injuries this season and it's really affected us, but now we've got more or less a first eleven of fit, quality players it definitely shows. And Ole definitely deserves credit, especially for today.

The players also look like they're motivated, in pretty much every game. Even in the games we play shite, I don't feel like they're not up for it. My impression is that they like Ole, they respect him, and they respect each other. Still a long way to go to ensure a successful season (top 4, for me) but I'm pretty positive about our chances.

And Bruno has made a big difference, for sure. Even today when he had a quiet game he provided the crucial assist, and you get the feeling that his energy and drive is having an impact in general
 
The moment we started playing less of the likes of Lingard and Perreira. These shite players impact us negatively more than we really realize
 
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No doubt it’s Bruno, he has lifted the whole atmosphere around the club.

Certain other players have really stepped up too in recent weeks but maybe that’s down to Bruno too.
 
bosnian_red said:
Every team needs some top attacking talent to link things up. Pereira and Lingard wouldn't start for the sides in the relegation zone in their best positions, so of course we'd look really shit and unimaginative having them start for us. Replace them with a proper world class creative player like Bruno, and suddenly it's the missing piece. Everyone steps it up, everyone believes more in themselves and we have that added composure and touch in attack.
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Couldn't have said it better. Obviously not the same level yet but VVD had that impact on Liverpool.
 
We're in a position where we can start with a good midfield and actually bring a good midfielder off the bench to join in.
 
bosnian_red said:
Every team needs some top attacking talent to link things up. Pereira and Lingard wouldn't start for the sides in the relegation zone in their best positions, so of course we'd look really shit and unimaginative having them start for us. Replace them with a proper world class creative player like Bruno, and suddenly it's the missing piece. Everyone steps it up, everyone believes more in themselves and we have that added composure and touch in attack.
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Bruno has been huge.

But so has balancing out the squad in Jan, having the quality of Ighalo, Bailly and McTominay on the bench makes a huge difference.

Suddenly players are having to play for the spots (Shaw, Matic, McTom, Fred, Martial) and the confidence is building.
 
Not being forced into selecting Championship midfielders in central midfield has made a big difference.

We’ve got a really energetic squad, too. So even when we struggle to break sides down, which is a result of playing Championship players in midfield, we can still cause problems for other teams.
 
meamth said:
Ole is actually a good manager. Managers have potential too.

Those people who said he is clueless should just bury their head, because in reality, they are the clueless ones.
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There’s still people calling him clueless after today
 
Because we have a very good manager who has been given the time to implement his plan.
 
Relevated said:
It's simple. You drop your bad players and you bring in good players who actually execute plans well.
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This

What do people expect Ole to do when he's got to play the likes of Andreas, Lingard and Jones?
 
Fortitude said:
Bruno?
Players returning from injury?
Ole?

We couldn't string two passes together a couple of months back, now? We look calm, controlled and very sure of what we want to do out there.

What has happened? Multiple catalysts, or something else?
Click to expand...

people replying “Bruno” when there is “Ole” as an option in OP. Ole bought Bruno for God sake. He also made the following players perform MUCH better:

1. Fred.
2. Shaw.
3. Rashford.
4. Williams.
5. Martial.
6. Matic
7. McTominay.
Bruno is fantastic, but he is just a spearhead of a fantastic weapon.
 
marktan said:
Lots of things.

Shaw looking good at LB again.
Maguire and AWB solidfying our defence.
Fred running about 180 mins worth inn 90
Martial scoring
Bruno obviously coming and in creating on top of all of that.

Our back and midfield is solid, I really think we just need to add some top quality wide forwards.
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Good summary.
Ighalo has helped take some of the stress off Martial as well.
 
Ole is doing the right things and part of that was bringing in Bruno.
 
We wete never a bad team just that injuries to martial, pogba, rashford, Mctominay all happened and all are our most important player. Imagine city without kdb aguero laporte and Rodri for 2 to 3 months or liverpool without van djik, salah and mane for months. We will be even better after rashford and Pogba in this side and if we add sancho and graelish we are looking even better.
 
meamth said:
Ole is actually a good manager. Managers have potential too.

Those people who said he is clueless should just bury their head, because in reality, they are the clueless ones.
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Time will tell mate - we've been here before...

He's certainly earned at least another season though and signed an absolute gem in Bruno.
 
Kag said:
Not being forced into selecting Championship midfielders in central midfield has made a big difference.

We’ve got a really energetic squad, too. So even when we struggle to break sides down, which is a result of playing Championship players in midfield, we can still cause problems for other teams.
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Even if we had 1 championship midfielder starting, we had other 9 (non-Gk) players. Why blame it on 1 player?
 
Fairly obvious it’s Bruno Fernandes. Quality, leads by example, instructing the press, leader. He is the difference.
 
Fortitude said:
Bruno?
Players returning from injury?
Ole?

We couldn't string two passes together a couple of months back, now? We look calm, controlled and very sure of what we want to do out there.

What has happened? Multiple catalysts, or something else?
Click to expand...
Ole, `its all Ole.

New ideas and a massive cultural reboot takes time to deliver. We are beginning to see the fruits of this strategy.

Please be patient and it will all come good.
 
Bruno has given Martial a purpose to perform. Pogba is going to also be elevated to a whole new level with the level of competitiveness Tony and Bruno give him
 
Fernandes

The team has worked hard all season but Bruno gives us the ability to actually score and create goals when we're on top, rather than relying purely on counter attacks or hoping Rashford turns into Ronaldo.

Not all down to him but the improvement of having him there is obvious. He's been directly involved in 6 of our last 8 Premier League goals. He is yelling at team mates when they missplace passes or don't make the right run. We have someone orchastrating our attacking play for the first time in years.

It gives the rest of the team confidence because they know they can score goals rather than have to slog out every single game.

Ighalo is better than I thought as well. Little things make big differences when the margins in a lot of our games have been quite small. He only came on late today but he must have saved us a good 4-5 minutes of extra defending with his hold up play. That's a big factor when the team was looking so knackered towards the end.
 
it also has to be emphasised that we have had horrendous luck with refereeing this year. Palace, Sheffield United, Arsenal are all games where referees cost us massively. We should have a lot more points.
 
bosnian_red said:
Every team needs some top attacking talent to link things up. Pereira and Lingard wouldn't start for the sides in the relegation zone in their best positions, so of course we'd look really shit and unimaginative having them start for us. Replace them with a proper world class creative player like Bruno, and suddenly it's the missing piece. Everyone steps it up, everyone believes more in themselves and we have that added composure and touch in attack.
Click to expand...

Pretty much, at one point we only had Fred as the fit CM in the team. We rarely had Rashford and Martial both in the team for a sustained period, and Pogba has been injured for majority of the season. Shaw had been out with injury as well, and now that Maguire and AWB are settled our defense looks very solid.

You need good players, you can't turn turd to gold no matter how much you try to polish it.
 
Bruno's brought back the belief in attack and Maguire has restored the stability in defence.
All this has to be credited to Ole.
 
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