We will never win a midfield battle with Bruno Fernandes in the middle

[Hammondo]

I think the phrase is… you don’t know what you don’t know. It’s quite obvious he creates more because of the freedom we allow him. He’s hardly an eye of the needle creator either. I.e. Eriksen’s ball to Rashford.

I hate the fear of changing things because what we have suits a player. I feel it's one of the reasons we never really change enough about our football and why some players struggle here but not elsewhere.

 

[Mainoldo]

I consider that an 8 rather than a 10.. a KDB kinda role

Bruno just isn't that player (kinda the whole point of this thread). he gives away the ball too much

as I said, I would prefer a different setup but we don't have the players for it at the moment.. and given we're lacking goals/assists from elsewhere in the team I'd rather we kept Bruno there

who would your midfield 3 be? We could try Case, Amrabat and Mainoo when everyones fit. We'd have much better control but where are the goals/assists coming from other than Rashford?

Yeah then we realise our wingers are shite. It’s a problem that requires a few fixes but I still feel he is a major issue. Even if for defensive structure. That midfield you mentioned would have us having a lot more ball possession whilst also less likely to get turned over in key positions.

 

[Hammondo]

Yeah then we realise our wingers are shite. It’s a problem that requires a few fixes but I still feel he is a major issue. Even if for defensive structure. That midfield you mentioned would have us having a lot more ball possession whilst also less likely to get turned over in key positions.

This is the other problem, imo we ask so little of our wide players in general play, if we did play with more possession and less "get the ball up the pitch", they would look so poor.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Missed the game for the rugby - is he still a shit cnut?

 

[BluesJr]

37% possession against Burnley. I’d put that as another midfield battle lost.

 

[PSV]

37% possession against Burnley. I’d put that as another midfield battle lost.

Almost half of Burnleys passes are their 2 CBs and their GK, the top 3 passers. The next two on the list are our CBs. There wasn't much of a midfield battle.

 

[Snow]

37% possession against Burnley. I’d put that as another midfield battle lost.

Disagree. More than half the match the ball was in their third. Midfielders on either side did less passing than defenders. The midfield battle was a stalemate.

 

[Solius]

37% possession against Burnley. I’d put that as another midfield battle lost.

Possession doesn’t equal the midfield battle. They struggled for space in there way more than any other team we’ve played. We had them at arms length for most of the game. Hannibal and Casemiro did much better at harassing those who broke the lines.

 

[Tarrou]

37% possession against Burnley. I’d put that as another midfield battle lost.

he didn't play in the middle

 

[Tarrou]

I absolutely would be happy to look at the academy players for several positions tbh. I could get behind that midfield but is it a bit technically lacking.

you'd get sacked within about 5 games

 

[Tyrion]

you'd get sacked within about 5 games

I haven't heard of 2 of those players. I'm fine with using academy players as 6th choice injury cover or somethin like that but some fans really forget the benefit of some experience (and being old enough to drink).

 

[Remember the geese]

I haven't heard of 2 of those players. I'm fine with using academy players as 6th choice injury cover or somethin like that but some fans really forget the benefit of some experience (and being old enough to drink).

You haven't heard of 2 from Casemiro, Amrabat and Mainoo?

 

[cpresc]

Missed the game for the rugby - is he still a shit cnut?

he won us the game with an absolutely sublime finish

wtf is wrong with people in here

 

[ROFLUTION]

Its the gift and the curse with Bruno.

Possession works well if you have great finishers like City do, but if we did replace Bruno with someone who could just pass quick and often then we might just turn into Van Gaal’s boring United. Pep’s football is quite boring too but it works because he has great finishers.

Really not sure pointing the finger at the guy who creates our chances, has the most vision and the best skills is the answer. We’d be worse off without him both short and long term imo, but it’s worth trying him on the right more to be more in control.

 

[Kag]

This shit thread rears its head every few months, usually when we’ve got a shit load of other issues (e.g. full first choice back line injured) and is forgotten when Bruno starts to do things that no other player in the squad can do.

Tedious.

 

[arnoldS]

Madness. Bruno is our best player and seems to be the only one who actually cares.

Sure He can bei frustrating but not more than anyone else. Luckily our match going fans appreciate Bruno otherwise he might would feck off to spain and ein everything there.

 

[Overhaul FC]

There's a reason Ten Hag doesn't want Bruno in his middle 3. Hannibal did well yday.

Bruno will be our RW for the foreseeable unless Amrabat being CM with Casemiro balances his risk taking out.

 

[m1tch]

From our high press you can see why EtH says Bruno is so important to us. He puts the others to shame, and does well to keep pressing as much as he does when he knows the press is probably going to fail because of the others. It's fair to say that you'd probably not want him in a team looking to build slowly and have 70%+ possession in games. I think we're aiming to take the ball off such teams high up the pitch and be direct with creating chances as opposed to winning the ball then passing the opposition to sleep before making a decisive pass.

Whatever it meant by winning the midfield battle is pretty irrelevant, we just have to be winning games. If we can win games with this system then Bruno is a massive part of why.

Sure there was cause for concern with our performance yesterday, but as some one else has pointed out, Burnley's possession was mainly with their centrebacks and keeper. Most importantly, Bruno's goal was really special, were allowed to enjoy that surely!!

 

[Rightnr]

Another disaster class from our supposed world class captain.

It seems another season like the 2021/22 campaign is needed for people to finally clock this guy is not good enough

 

[BluesJr]

People will realise it eventually. Always takes time.

 

[GMoore23]

Not good enough to start for this club and too mouthy to be a squad option.
Get Rid.

 

[PoTMS]

Bruno needs to feck off now.

 

[thomas porter]

He had a few good moments overall but he just gives the ball away too much for this level.

 

[Rozay]

People will realise it eventually. Always takes time.

Many have (they have just been quiet for a while), but not enough. It’s to the point where surely, ANY objective football watcher will be able to see the problems he brings to the team.

 

[davidmichael]

Our main problem with Fernandes is he is an out and out 10 who can’t play anywhere else which means we either play 4-2-3-1 with Fernandes as a 10, play him out wide where he’s ineffective as he has zero pace, play him in a double pivot where he’s a liability or drop him completely.

 

[noodlehair]

Him and Mount can't play in the same midfield. Everyone except Ten Hag can see this.

Our midfield looked a LOT better when Eriksen came on last night. Mount also looked better I thought.

If we set up the way we did pre red card after half time, from the start, we might have been a few goals up and avoided the whole disaster, but we spent 45 minutes at the mercy of the other team having the whole midfield to themselves. Again. For some reason.

Not saying Bruno played well because he was irritating me, but he's getting a lot of stick for our manager being inexplicably stubborn with a terrible idea. It's also not exactly helping that ETH chooses to make our midfield the most open in the world at the same time as our back line is in the midst of an injury crisis.