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Bruno Fernandes Portugal flag

2021-22 Performances

View full 2021-22 profile

5.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
46
Goals
10
Assists
13
Yellow cards
10
Status
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Sviken said:
Hopefully Rangnick sorts him out. If not, boot him. He needs to understand that he is not under good ol' Ole anymore where he can do whatever he wants. I don't care how good he is as a player, Guardiola or Klopp would not put up with his antics even for one single game.
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Looks like Ralf has a big list of players he has to sort out ;)

Rashford
Bruno
Maguire
Shaw
AWB
McTominay
Ronaldo

May this explains why we were so poor for a long time, After spedning a billion we are still talking about this tells the story we had for last 9 years
 
tjb said:
Fans...so fickle. Noone is playing well, yet they pick on their best players and wonder why they can't build a team.
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That’s our problem. A lot of people have falsely given this guy the title of our best player. He can’t make continuous short range passes to save his life and he fizz’s balls to your attackers like the ball is a punching bag.
 
Mainoldo said:
That’s our problem. A lot of people have falsely given this guy the title of our best player. He can’t make continuous short range passes to save his life and he fizz’s balls to your attackers like the ball is a punching bag.
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He's an easy target, just like Ronaldo, just like Pogba is, just like Lukaku and Ibra were. For two years he created almost all our chances. I remember how difficult watching us was when we had Pereira and Lingard rotating at no.10 each week. Its sad that people have forgotten.

People expect him to deliver key pass after key pass with tonnes of pressure and nobody in front of him. I still don't understand how people haven't yet learnt that us being able to build up properly and get the ball to our front men is our issue. if your brought the KDB's or Salah's here, it would be the same thing. We have struggled playing our forwards into the game against bad teams, yet Fernandes is expected to make miracles when he's having to chase balls or controlled fizzed passes at a 100mph.

What's so funny about this is, despite us not playing well, he's still managing to supply 2.9 key passes per game. Luke Shaw is our next hightest at about 1.3. Which says he's still our main, and almost only source of creativity, yet instead of blaming the Mcominay's that make it hard for him to get a reasonable amount of the ball, especially in big games, we look at him....yes, our best player.
 
He’s having a strange time of it lately came on against Villarreal and looked absolutely world class, then today has one of the worst performances I’ve seen from him in an United shirt. You never really know what to expect nowadays with Fernandes.
 
Deery said:
He’s having a strange time of it lately came on against Villarreal and looked absolutely world class, then today has one of the worst performances I’ve seen from him in an United shirt. You never really know what to expect nowadays with Fernandes.
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I’m so confused by him.

Part of me thinks he was made to look much better than he really is because Ole basically have him a free pass to do as he pleased. If I played 10 passes to a striker, 1 was scored (so I get an assist) but the other 9 gift the opponent the ball and we lose the game…is that good? I guess it all depends on the result of the game but some of his passing today was genuinely worse than the average redcaf user.

But then I really do see a top player if a coach comes in and makes him play as a controlled CM, makes him have a set offensive and defensive role and, even though he’ll have less involvements individually, I do think he can then make us much stronger as a team.
 
tjb said:
He's an easy target, just like Ronaldo, just like Pogba is, just like Lukaku and Ibra were. For two years he created almost all our chances. I remember how difficult watching us was when we had Pereira and Lingard rotating at no.10 each week. Its sad that people have forgotten.

People expect him to deliver key pass after key pass with tonnes of pressure and nobody in front of him. I still don't understand how people haven't yet learnt that us being able to build up properly and get the ball to our front men is our issue. if your brought the KDB's or Salah's here, it would be the same thing. We have struggled playing our forwards into the game against bad teams, yet Fernandes is expected to make miracles when he's having to chase balls or controlled fizzed passes at a 100mph.

What's so funny about this is, despite us not playing well, he's still managing to supply 2.9 key passes per game. Luke Shaw is our next hightest at about 1.3. Which says he's still our main, and almost only source of creativity, yet instead of blaming the Mcominay's that make it hard for him to get a reasonable amount of the ball, especially in big games, we look at him....yes, our best player.
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No-one is asking for miracles from Fernandes. There was a time when people described him as some sort of miracle worker but thankfully that's passed. There's still people defending performances like this, but that'll pass too. Eventually people will start asking what are the trade-offs involved in those great key passing stats and we'll start to have a real conversation about Fernandes. For now it's still mostly pantomime stuff.
 
Constantly losing the ball like Fernandes does doesn't match a Rangnick type player. It just invites the pressure. You need to recycle possession and keep hold of the ball. Fernandes always tries the high risk Hollywood passes which % wise isn't very high at scoring.

Fernandes shouldn't be a guaranteed starter either. No player should.

I think Donny is better at keeping the ball than Fernandes to give United the best chance to dominate games and keep United on the attack plus is probably just as good a passer than Fernandes. So in theory should be more a Rangnick type in player.

let's see what Rangnick does.
 
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He will explode under Rangnick. His style of football is to press high and throw off a killer pass on the transition. It will be an open buffet for him.
He's struggling right now because our pressing system is disjointed at best and his risky approach to killer balls is not handled well by our defensive transitions - we have no organization behind him.

He and Sancho will be electric under Rangnick. Can't wait.
 
If Bruno left and thrived elsewhere as he was at Sporting ...these same pathetic fans who are always on a scapegoat mission will be moaning. A defensive game will never suit Bruno...that's not his strength. Thats why so many players look world class at City, they control the game and have a lot of the ball. If you want to park the bus you're better off not playing Bruno or any of out attackers who feed off scraps.
 
Apparently Rangnick plays high octane ‘vertical’ football with fast transitions and high pressing so Bruno seems like a great fit for that. The Athletic claimed through a leak that Bruno was incapable of learning how to press effectively so perhaps that could be an issue. Although I’d guess some of the coaching staff were trying to cover their own backs with that leak.

He doesn’t seem like a player that’ll be in danger of losing his place.
 
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Despite his struggles recently, I prophesy Bruno thriving under the new manager and returning to form as our best player for the remainder of the campaign.

Could just be wishful thinking cause, but I love the lad’s attitude and don’t think he’ll be in this slump much longer.
 
Seems to be having a poor run of form at the moment. Some really poor passes today. Never stops trying though its why even when he's actually quite poor there's always a possibility that he produces something out of nothing.

Be tempted to drop him for a couple of games personally.
 
Mr PG said:
If Bruno left and thrived elsewhere as he was at Sporting ...these same pathetic fans who are always on a scapegoat mission will be moaning. A defensive game will never suit Bruno...that's not his strength. Thats why so many players look world class at City, they control the game and have a lot of the ball. If you want to park the bus you're better off not playing Bruno or any of out attackers who feed off scraps.
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You get part of the reason we have to play defensive and can’t control games is because of Bruno right?

The reason they look worldclass is because they are and many of them understand they are not the main character in a lifetime movie. They make Far better choices which is the difference between Bruno, Pogba and the very best players in the world. They make consistently better chances. We all know Bruno and Pogba are very gifted/special. But they‘ll struggle to be classed at elite until the consistency of performances and decisions are there to warrant such titles.
 
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Andersons Dietician said:
You get part of the reason we have to play defensive and can’t control games is because of Bruno right?
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You get the reason we can’t control games is because we don’t have a midfield or backline capable of controlling a ball or being pressed in any way whatsoever?

Bruno does enough in other aspects to warrant his inclusion at this point...despite horrid form. In a better midfield with better movement and option for him, you would expect him to improve. If he doesn’t, lots of top sides play without an out and out number 10. A more disciplined 3 might be better for us right now.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Apparently Rangnick plays high octane ‘vertical’ football with fast transitions and high pressing so Bruno seems like a great fit for that. The Athletic claimed through a leak that Bruno was incapable of learning how to press effectively so perhaps that could be an issue. Although I’d guess some of the coaching staff were trying to cover their own backs with that leak.

He doesn’t seem like a player that’ll be in danger of losing his place.
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Do you have a link to that, please?
 
Got to be honest, his form is starting to become a real concern. Obviously he has a lot of merit in the bank because of how much he carried us in his first 12 months. But he has been very very poor now for quite a considerable amount of time.
 
I know Bruno had a poor game but the reason he looks like having a worse game than others is because he is one of the few players with personality. He is showing for the ball, wants the ball.

How many times did he get the ball with no one to pass to? We often forget the type of player he is, he wants to influence further up the pitch, which is why when we are stuck with sitting back, he looks like having a poor game.

I hope we see us dominating games more and him finding his form.
 
tjb said:
He's an easy target, just like Ronaldo, just like Pogba is, just like Lukaku and Ibra were. For two years he created almost all our chances. I remember how difficult watching us was when we had Pereira and Lingard rotating at no.10 each week. Its sad that people have forgotten.

People expect him to deliver key pass after key pass with tonnes of pressure and nobody in front of him. I still don't understand how people haven't yet learnt that us being able to build up properly and get the ball to our front men is our issue. if your brought the KDB's or Salah's here, it would be the same thing. We have struggled playing our forwards into the game against bad teams, yet Fernandes is expected to make miracles when he's having to chase balls or controlled fizzed passes at a 100mph.

What's so funny about this is, despite us not playing well, he's still managing to supply 2.9 key passes per game. Luke Shaw is our next hightest at about 1.3. Which says he's still our main, and almost only source of creativity, yet instead of blaming the Mcominay's that make it hard for him to get a reasonable amount of the ball, especially in big games, we look at him....yes, our best player.
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He is an easy target but that comes with the label of being one of the better players.

Why don’t you understand that part of us not playing well is down to his playing style. We don’t like our style but he thrives in it. It’s why I don’t like the way he plays we accommodate him by playing this way. We need to anchors to protect us against him continuously trying these audacious through balls with limited finesse.

Someone told me that’s what they have to put up with supporting McGuinn. Having watched him against Palace on the weekend they are right. But atleast he runs round like a headless chicken in the middle of the park.
 
SonyaCross493 said:
Constantly losing the ball like Fernandes does doesn't match a Rangnick type player. It just invites the pressure. You need to recycle possession and keep hold of the ball. Fernandes always tries the high risk Hollywood passes which % wise isn't very high at scoring.

Fernandes shouldn't be a guaranteed starter either. No player should.

I think Donny is better at keeping the ball than Fernandes to give United the best chance to dominate games and keep United on the attack plus is probably just as good a passer than Fernandes. So in theory should be more a Rangnick type in player.

let's see what Rangnick does.
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He was literally leading the press yesterday. They entrusted him to dictate when to go. I think Ralf had a huge influence on that team selection/gameplan and will have big plans for Bruno.

Bruno should thrive in this system. The point of coaching a high press is to remove the need for "Hollywood" passes as the options will be simplified in transitions. That still wasn't the case yesterday as we're still pretty disorganized as a collective.

I would bet anything Bruno is the first name on the teamsheet under Ralf. As he should be. He's far more capable than VDB at playing passes that penetrate a defence. None of his issues can't be fixed with coaching.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
https://theathletic.com/2969517/202...weeks-the-fall-of-a-manchester-united-legend/

It's behind a paywall but in the section that they talk about what was worked on in training not happening on the pitch is this part.

One player who could never be charged with insufficient sprinting is Fernandes but his solo pressing has caused frustration. Coaches have gone through his videos with him to highlight the wasted energy.
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Noticed it quite a lot, he can be a bit of a headless chicken at time the way he presses at times. I think he should be fine though as he is clearly willing and able to press, it just needs to be more organised which Rangnick should bring.
 
Can someone point out the posts that are a disgrace in here as most just seem to say he played bad/is in bad form
 
Classical Mechanic said:
https://theathletic.com/2969517/202...weeks-the-fall-of-a-manchester-united-legend/

It's behind a paywall but in the section that they talk about what was worked on in training not happening on the pitch is this part.

One player who could never be charged with insufficient sprinting is Fernandes but his solo pressing has caused frustration. Coaches have gone through his videos with him to highlight the wasted energy.
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That seems a long way off saying he’s incapable of pressing properly. It’s obvious he was pressing outside the system for most of this season but that’s because there was no functional system and he was frustrated that the other players weren’t doing their bit. Dealing with that frustration by wasting a bit of energy is maybe a bit immature but it’s a pretty tame criticism, and has applied to many good pressers in difficult circumstances.

He definitely looked like he could co-ordinate things yesterday, and he’s obviously suited to getting the ball forward quickly, so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t fit into the new system. Whether he’ll be able to rein in those Hollywood passes and play simple short passes forward, giving other players the opportunity to play the “key pass” from a better position, is the big question for me.
 
Was awful yesterday, but has more than enough credit in the bank after the too many to list times he has saved our asses. He will be flying again soon.
 
Brwned said:
That seems a long way off saying he’s incapable of pressing properly. It’s obvious he was pressing outside the system for most of this season but that’s because there was no functional system and he was frustrated that the other players weren’t doing their bit. Dealing with that frustration by wasting a bit of energy is maybe a bit immature but it’s a pretty tame criticism, and has applied to many good pressers in difficult circumstances.

He definitely looked like he could co-ordinate things yesterday, and he’s obviously suited to getting the ball forward quickly, so I’d be surprised if he doesn’t fit into the new system. Whether he’ll be able to rein in those Hollywood passes and play simple short passes forward, giving other players the opportunity to play the “key pass” from a better position, is the big question for me.
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Yes, saying that he's incapable of pressing is a step too far. Although that section of the article is about the players not doing what they were learning in training. It's probably come from someone in the coaching staff trying to make themselves look less culpable for the mess. I agree that under a better coach he should be fine in this regard.

On the second point. At least from what I've read on RR and his style, the aim is to get the ball up the pitch as fast as possible in a 'vertical' manner, in contrast to the Tiki Taka style. A German poster stated that one of his sides had a really low pass completion rate as well so I'm not sure that we'll see any sort of controlled football that some people seem to be expecting. Bruno seems to fit the type of player that would excell under RR. I think his off the cuff Hollywood passes will fit the system.
 
tjb said:
He's an easy target, just like Ronaldo, just like Pogba is, just like Lukaku and Ibra were. For two years he created almost all our chances. I remember how difficult watching us was when we had Pereira and Lingard rotating at no.10 each week. Its sad that people have forgotten.

People expect him to deliver key pass after key pass with tonnes of pressure and nobody in front of him. I still don't understand how people haven't yet learnt that us being able to build up properly and get the ball to our front men is our issue. if your brought the KDB's or Salah's here, it would be the same thing. We have struggled playing our forwards into the game against bad teams, yet Fernandes is expected to make miracles when he's having to chase balls or controlled fizzed passes at a 100mph.

What's so funny about this is, despite us not playing well, he's still managing to supply 2.9 key passes per game. Luke Shaw is our next hightest at about 1.3. Which says he's still our main, and almost only source of creativity, yet instead of blaming the Mcominay's that make it hard for him to get a reasonable amount of the ball, especially in big games, we look at him....yes, our best player.
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:lol:

It has nothing to do with expecting key passes all the time, it's about expecting him to cut out the beyond stupid shit that he frequently tries. Like yesterday, when he's suddenly trying a backheel attempt from the left back position without knowing what's behind him, followed by an insanely stupid crossover pass that went straight to a Chelsea player when we weren't in balance...

Not sure why so many people are so against a fine tuned Bruno, yesterday he was a fecking disaster
 
Brwned said:
No-one is asking for miracles from Fernandes. There was a time when people described him as some sort of miracle worker but thankfully that's passed. There's still people defending performances like this, but that'll pass too. Eventually people will start asking what are the trade-offs involved in those great key passing stats and we'll start to have a real conversation about Fernandes. For now it's still mostly pantomime stuff.
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He is a miracle worker though, the issue is everything else that he does and doesn't do in-between them.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Yes, saying that he's incapable of pressing is a step too far. Although that section of the article is about the players not doing what they were learning in training. It's probably come from someone in the coaching staff trying to make themselves look less culpable for the mess. I agree that under a better coach he should be fine in this regard.

On the second point. At least from what I've read on RR and his style, the aim is to get the ball up the pitch as fast as possible in a 'vertical' manner, in contrast to the Tiki Taka style. A German poster stated that one of his sides had a really low pass completion rate as well so I'm not sure that we'll see any sort of controlled football that some people seem to be expecting. Bruno seems to fit the type of player that would excell under RR. I think his off the cuff Hollywood passes will fit the system.
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Yeah I definitely agree that we’ll see riskier quicker football, far from tiki taka. But from what I’ve seen they played short passes to break the lines quickly, not Hollywood passes to go for the kill from any position. Bruno was good at that last year when we were effective on the counter and he had people on his wavelength, but this season he’s just gone for the kill almost every time.

He clearly lost faith in the supporting cast and tried to take things into his own hands, so if he believes in the system he could integrate well and be very potent, but it’s still quite a big step to give up on the indulgences he’s afforded himself in recent months.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
https://theathletic.com/2969517/202...weeks-the-fall-of-a-manchester-united-legend/

It's behind a paywall but in the section that they talk about what was worked on in training not happening on the pitch is this part.

One player who could never be charged with insufficient sprinting is Fernandes but his solo pressing has caused frustration. Coaches have gone through his videos with him to highlight the wasted energy.
Click to expand...
saivet said:
Noticed it quite a lot, he can be a bit of a headless chicken at time the way he presses at times. I think he should be fine though as he is clearly willing and able to press, it just needs to be more organised which Rangnick should bring.
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It's very much the Sanchez issue when he was at Arsenal. He was pressing like a mad man but it was rarely efficient as it wasn't really coordinated with the team. There are a lot of similarities between them in terms of their role, playing style & expectations from them (even though Sanchez gravitated towards goalscoring more). That said, we've hardly had a pressing system that he was able to coordinate his pressing actions with.
 
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