But you're not prepared to back that good memory up with few examples. Got it.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 59
- Goals
- 14
- Assists
- 14
- Yellow cards
- 12
- Status
Casemiro lost a fair amount of possession in last couple of games. I wonder if 'we wont win anything with Bruno' crew was silent on that matter.
KdB is first name on their team sheet and he plays as AM, yes he is ultra attacking as they are camped in final third all the time.
Odegaard is ultra attacking AM, forget Odegaard even Xhaka is ultra attacking CM who makes so many runs. They play more like 4-1-4-1 than 4-3-3.
Barca and Madrid plays with 3 CMs and Bayern plays Muller who is SS.
Oh, it was "something" about some of the greatest players to have played in the Premier League? Yeah, my agenda is that they're both simply much better footballers than Bruno Fernandes, and if you disagree, you don't know much about football, really.
He isn't. He is playing deeper than he ever did at ManUtd. It's like people have made up their mind based on his time under Ole and still thinks he plays the same position. Even under Ole it was wrong, now even more.
What a ridiculous attempt to be sensible. World is not gray, it's black and white. Either you play like Bruno or like McTominay. There is nothing in between.
KdB played 150 minutes more than Silva this season, hardly a difference. For Odegaard, the point is he keeps the ball much better than Bruno, although he is an attacking CM. Your point about Xhaka making many runs is exactly the reason why playing with midfield 3 doesn't mean it's more defensive setup than say 4231.
Bruno runs a lot and does a lot of hard work, but the problem is he's not very good with ball progression through midfield when we struggle with possession, and that was very visible yesterday as well. It's just not his strength, so if we can get a competent midfield two behind him we should be good.
Case’s passing has been very hit and miss since he arrived. Not sure anyone has debated that to be honest.
We look better in possession than the tripe we used to see but there’s a long long way to go.
That's actually an issue too -- it's not just Fernandes in isolation. Our entire main midfield (Casemiro; Fred; Eriksen; and Fernandes) are all very lax with how they treat the ball. All four of them are below 80% for accurate passes in the PL this season. Fernandes is the lowest at 72.5%. It's pretty shocking for the third best PL team for our midfield to collectively be this horrible with retaining the ball.
I don't massively like our midfield composition and I think we lack [at the very least] one central midfielder who is able to retain the ball under pressure and keep possession circulating. Honestly, I think we need two, but I don't think that's likely.
It would be interesting to check the stats of Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno combination cause with that combo it seemed to me we were the best in possession. Saying that, yeah, we need at least one new midfielder.
It isnt debated as with Bruno's passing who's now being compared to McTominay and Maguire.
Looks like you are deviating from the original point and starting new one.
Is Odegaard, KdB, Muller ultra attacking AMs? Yes. Do all top teams play with 3 CMs? No, majority of them play with 2. So 2 or 3 CMs doesn't matter.
Another ironic post by you. You really going strong today.
Eriksen is a CM and has pass completion in 70s. He doesn't get criticism because people don't care about it and it's reserved only for few players.
He is a AM converted to a CM. He does quite a lot more progressive passes than the average CM which means he gets a lower completion rates. He also is the CM with the highest amount of assists in the league.
All the more reasons to try to be a little more conservative no ? I don't think hoping for him to be less wasteful is an obtainable wish. There is a middle ground that can be found between keeping the ball and creating.
All good but the point is different, whether Eriksen gives away possession? Yes which is clearly showed in his pass completion stats.
Not talking about goals, assists, key passes or anything else.
If he keeps doing it then yes, obviously he will get criticism too.
So far though he's had 1 shocking performance in a big game that ended in a rout. He's a way to go yet.
As the player who consistently plays the furthest up the pitch, Bruno’s pass completion % would be acceptable. Even more so considering he’s our primary chance creator.
It’s definitely a major concern to see such poor stats from the deeper lying midfielders.
No but context matters. The reason Bruno has a low pass completion stat is also because of how he passes. Its always the forward pass. Attack minded midfielders do that.
I think pass completion stat doesnt mean much for AM's.
My issue at times with Bruno is that he does these passes regardless of where he is on the field, which can lead to dangerous chances for the opposition, which is also why he is always best used further forward instead of deep. I know people will point to the Fulham match, but a match playing against 9 tells you nothing.
Our best CM (other than Casemiro) is a AM that is shoehorned in to the role because our other options are kind of shite. We desperately need a deep lying playmaker who is press resistant and can drive the ball forward. This would also mean that Bruno isnt forced to move far back whenever Christian isnt playing and thus he wouldnt give the ball away in dangerous areas.
Yeah we can probably agree on that. But they are also more rounded players who help to progress the ball and keep possession, that is the difference between all the mentioned players and Bruno.
City also play half the time with Silva who is more of a CM/playmaker these days, and Madrid and Barca play midfield 3. In this way I think we are an exception with Bruno, it's just difficult to find balance with him in the team.
Even if BSilva plays as CM, why are you ignoring KdB who pretty much plays all the time he is available..so no we are not exception.
What people here are missing that this is a trade-off ETH is also happily taking. Bruno never gets a rest. ETH speaks very highly of him, both as a player and leader. He even said „Bruno coaches the team“ (and no, this of course doesn’t mean that Bruno is the coach instead of ETH before anyone starts nitpicking).
We without a doubt need a better midfielder than Fred/McT/Sabitzer who can control the tempo and who will play alongside Bruno and Case. But I will be very surprised if ETH will do without Bruno’s style of play moving forward. Yes he may want to fine tune it and want him to play a slightly calmer game, but at the same time I don’t think he will want him to change too much.
His passing stats will also improve once we actually have more players around him who can keep the ball and / or who can crate chances. So far most of the burden is on him.
This is different argument, it's whether players gives away possession. I had same discussion just couple of days back with you, not sure we want to repeat the same thing. This has nothing to do with assists or anything else.
Attacking midfielders give away possession and they tend to look for the progressive pass as much as possible which is also the most difficult to get right, requires your team mates to move correctly etc. Hence why Bruno and Christian at times give away possession through passes. One more so than the other, given that he plays further forward.
I honestly think we agree on this point no?
Yes, we agree on this for sure.
I for one don't mind players (attack minded one) losing possession, people have this weird idea that to control games every player should be having 90%+ pass completion.
I agree Bruno sometimes takes it to extremes but people act as if the reason we don't dominate big games is because of one player.
We do not currently have the players!
Yesterday Fulham had key players who were better than some of our key players, ie Paulhinha, Willian, Mitrovic... and we had SMT, Sancho/Antony, and Weghorst...!!!!
These are the realities ETH has to deal with. That semi final is anything but a given, Brighton have players who would improve our side and are going to get out there, have fun, with nothing to lose. We need a reality check, because our squad is being exposed to its limitations. Not a thing to do with Bruno Fernandes.
He defo needs a rest and reset. The frustrating thing is how, doesnt matter where we are on the pitch, hes trying to go for a killer ball that majority of the time gives away the ball, and will on an occasion or two set up a chance. The chaos suits him, but when we are under pressure, its when you need somebody to put their foot on the ball and try calm things down. He does the opposite and always will.
I can see why a FDJ was wanted by ETH. Until the end of the season we will have to do with what we have. He scored two goals and we won which on a specific game basis, will outweigh any negatives. But in terms of playing a certain way, its difficult when we arent keeping the ball and taking pressure of our defence / goalkeeper.
I can see why a FDJ was wanted by ETH. Until the end of the season we will have to do with what we have. He scored two goals and we won which on a specific game basis, will outweigh any negatives. But in terms of playing a certain way, its difficult when we arent keeping the ball and taking pressure of our defence / goalkeeper.
Willian is not better than Antony/Sancho.
Don't think you know the definition of ironic, mate. I think David Silva and De Bruyne are better footballers than Bruno so I lack knowledge in football. Ok then
Yes you are right, my mistake I assumed one or another plays. City make it work with rather offensive setup, I think we are trying to do something similar with fullbacks tucking in. But this probably takes some time, and midfielders which are excellent on the ball.
No, its your posts which work in absolutes. When you're presented with Bruno's statistcis you respond with - are you seriously talking about Bruno and KDB in the same sentence!? - stuff.Don't think you know the definition of ironic, mate. I think David Silva and De Bruyne are better footballers than Bruno so I lack knowledge in football. Ok then
Also, you should just admit being a City fan. There's no shame in that.
Both KDB and Silva had better surrounding and better players around them (which doesnt mean Bruno is better than your favorite City players) and even with counting teams he was in he was doing and still is doing wonders. Does that exclude him from his bad games, of course not, but he's treated like one of the worst players in the team which is absurd. Your posts being a prime example.
Now our problems in midfield in general play (in which we're better than last year) are all being pinned to him.
So yes it is ironic when you speak about lack or no lack of football knowledge.
It wasn't just City and Barca, our own scouts recommended against signing him because of his wayward decision-making/how often he gives the ball away. It was widely reported at the time and one of the reasons we didn't buy him initially. The guy just sprays and prays:
By now, his performances should be caveated with the amount of games and minutes accumulated. Even if his body can handle it, it's a massive mental toll.
He shouldn't play as often as he does.
He shouldn't play as often as he does.
Bruno’s issue is simply consistency. Just compare him to Odegaard this season in possession, they are almost identical in assists, expected assists and number of passes but Bruno’s pass completion rate is abysmal (Odegaard is in the 76th percentile, Bruno is in the 38th…) then they go back to being almost identical for key passes.
It’s very hard to actually calculate the ‘cost’ of giving the ball away that much but it’s fair to say that’s not conducive to a controlled game and implies we invite a lot of counter attacks.
For reference Casemiro has a better, albeit not great, passing completion of 45th percentile which isn’t good when you compare: Rodri is in the 98th, Rice 95th, Hojberg 95th, Partey 90th.
Lots and lots of work to do in the midfield setup for ETH.
Someone in either this thread or maybe it was the never going to win league with Bruno one said it best, if you don't think he is good enough then at least for the next couple of years, give up watching United because he is an absolute key player for ETH. He doesn't sub him when we've essentially won matches, plays full 90 and it's not at a walking pace. He is just going to play while ETH is here.
For me like most - he can be extremely infuriating with some of his choices when using the ball. He doesn't seem to have an off switch to try those really low chance of pulling off - the part that both Ole and ETH liked. Even this later stage in his career, I think Ten Hag can coach him to a point where he consciously in games recognizes when the team needs someone to just put their foot on the ball so to speak. When we as a team don't seem to have control of the game, he needs to take the responsibility for himself and as the "coach" to keep possession.
I think it can be done because Bruno will listen to whatever his coach/manager asks but, until now no one has really has asked - so it's up to Ten Hag to get him to find that little bit more balance in possession and trying those passes that only few like him see or try.
For me like most - he can be extremely infuriating with some of his choices when using the ball. He doesn't seem to have an off switch to try those really low chance of pulling off - the part that both Ole and ETH liked. Even this later stage in his career, I think Ten Hag can coach him to a point where he consciously in games recognizes when the team needs someone to just put their foot on the ball so to speak. When we as a team don't seem to have control of the game, he needs to take the responsibility for himself and as the "coach" to keep possession.
I think it can be done because Bruno will listen to whatever his coach/manager asks but, until now no one has really has asked - so it's up to Ten Hag to get him to find that little bit more balance in possession and trying those passes that only few like him see or try.
It's extremely hard to take your posts seriously when you decide which team I support. Quite absurd, in fact. The reason I mention these two are because they're two of the best number 10s that have played in Premier League.
No one is saying Bruno is our worst player, but it's his whiny, childish behaviour toward his team mates on the pitch that is annoying to watch. He will get pissed at his team mates for not passing the ball to him, only to lose the ball unnecessarily three times in the space of a minute. He is a great player, for sure, and one of our best players, but that does not mean he's immune to criticism or cannot be upgraded on.
Willian is worse than what we have. Mitrovic yes, much better than Weghorst. And Paulinha is in fact average (one could argue McTominay is even worse than that, though)
These the same scouts who at the time were berated for being wrong basically all the time, to the point they were bordering on inept?
- Status