Bruno as a false 9 in big games?

We are not even close to having the right type of midfield to play with a false 9. This was pioneered by Barcelona and later Spain because they have the players to keep the ball and pass and move through any team. As a result, they don’t need a striker to be crossing percentage balls into, or playing balls into ‘channels’ for them to chase. They have the skill to be more precise. We’d just have no presence up top and no ability to knit together enough chances on the ground either.
 
Rozay said:
We are not even close to having the right type of midfield to play with a false 9. This was pioneered by Barcelona and later Spain because they have the players to keep the ball and pass and move through any team. As a result, they don’t need a striker to be crossing percentage balls into, or playing balls into ‘channels’ for them to chase. They have the skill to be more precise. We’d just have no presence up top and no ability to knit together enough chances on the ground either.
Click to expand...
A midfield 3 of Pogba, Donny, and Matic/Fred could easily pass and move in a possession system. Add to that Martial and Greenwood who have very good technical ability, we definitely have the players to play that way if we wanted to.

We have the skills, but we don't have the desire to be a more technical team. Ole seems to prefer physical players over technical ones.
 
Or maybe, just maybe, we should buy a real number 9 who has talent, experience, and consistency. A wild thought, I know. Throw-in a quality RW while we are at it.
 
76side said:
Bruno has gone right off the boil, sends most of the match disputing the refs decisions and invariably gets booked.
If VDB was any good I'd leave him out for a few games but alas VDB is the worst signing since Di Maria, he is absolute garbage!
Click to expand...


Bruno has scored in all four previous PL matches before this and scored a brace against Sociedad too, how's that gone off the boil? He's picking his form back up after a tough period. And VdB is not garbage – why the toxicity? Why not fecking support your own player while he's settling in? Remember Evra? Vida?
 
AgentSmith said:
Our results this season against the stereotypical 'big 6' has been really underwhelming from an attacking perspective compared to last season where it was our strongest trait.

Spurs: 6-1 loss
Chelsea: 0-0 draw
Arsenal: 1-0 loss
City: 0-0 draw
Liverpool: 0-0 draw
Arsenal: 0-0 draw

Scored 1
Conceded 7
4/18 points

The Spurs result obviously skews those numbers (we would have lost that game regardless of the Martial red card but not by 5 goals) but the overall picture is of a team able to defend against the bigger teams but unable to attack at the same time. I think this is largely attributable to the McFred base in midfield providing us with a strong defensive shield but little in the way of creativity or ability with the ball. So in simpler terms, our ability to defend kills our ability to attack.

Pogba is the clear solution to this lack of creativity but by playing him in Solskjaer's favoured midfield 2 we sacrifice the aforementioned defensive stability of the previous pairing. Combine this with the fragility of our defensive triumvirate (De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire) and it's an equally problematic system.

Would moving Bruno into a false 9 role (given he essentially plays as a SS atm already), while relying on Greenwood and Rashford to maintain their current positions as inverted wingers, allow us to play Pogba in a midfield 3 with McTominay and Fred?



Dropping one of Martial or Cavani to the bench to bring Pogba into the midfield seems an effective solution to the issues our midfield suffers from while simultaneously masking the weaknesses Pogba's inclusion entails. We lose some presence up top by dropping Cavani (we lose nothing with Martial) but we gain a lot more from deep while our most effective attackers (Bruno, Rashford and Greenwood) are all still playing in close to their favoured position. McTominay's increased goal-scoring threat breaking through the right-hand side of midfield this season makes it seem all the more workable.

Given the similarity of this system to a diamond formation a lack of width is one of the major issues that seems to pop up. The full-backs become important in providing outlets which obviously presents a problem for our right-hand side. But given most big games are quite closed-off affairs where we look to strike on the counter I don't think it would be too much of an issue given we seem to prefer AWB to focus on shutting down the opposition LW anyways.

In games where we feel more comfortable in our ability to dominate the ball we can drop one of McTominay or Fred to the bench and bring Cavani back into the usual 4-2-3-1 system.

So what say you Caf? An effective alternative to the ineffective 4-2-3-1 in bigger games or the unrealistic ramblings of a football manager wannabe?
Click to expand...

Didn’t even read the long post because it makes sense. Donny and pogba and to be honest i would start Cavani on the right because his delivery is way better than Greenwood’s. If we needed a bit of a switch during the match Bruno could go back into midfield, subbing one of the midfielders for Greenwood, putting him in front and subbing Cavani for hopefully whichever RW we will eventually have by the end of the decade
 
NewGlory said:
Or maybe, just maybe, we should buy a real number 9 who has talent, experience, and consistency. A wild thought, I know. Throw-in a quality RW while we are at it.
Click to expand...

Who would be your suggestion for this new no.9?
 
AgentSmith said:
Who would be your suggestion for this new no.9?
Click to expand...
Haaland is the obvious choice. If we want to be the team that wins EPL and fights for Champions League, that is the caliber of striker we need.

Even Calvert-Lewin this season would be a huge upgrade over Martial.
 
Word on the street is that we're seeing this today. Carrick been reading the caf? :nervous:
 
Samid said:
Word on the street is that we're seeing this today. Carrick been reading the caf? :nervous:
Click to expand...

Really hope this is true.

He needs to go back to a creative but a goalscoring ability - with other goalscorers around him like Ronaldo and Greenwood on each side (or Rashford)
 
I always thought ronaldo/cavani and Bruno up top could make a nice partnership.

You could have bruno can drop back throughout the game into attacking midfield role. The LM/RM (Rashford/Sancho/Greenwood) could move up into offense periodically to keep width and a strong, dynamic attack, while still being able to come back on defense and keeping us secure.
 
Well he’s a better player than Firmino and he’s the second coming of God front 3 are decent I’d be worried about the 3 behind him
 
You must log in or register to reply here.