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2022-23 Performances

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6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
59
Goals
14
Assists
14
Yellow cards
12
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Quite easily the most overrated player I've seen in this club, 1 good game in 5 we get from him if we're lucky.

The moment when he tried to dribble on the left and the ball went for a goal kick sums him up as a no. 10. A pitiful display except when his hollywood balls worked a couple of times.
 
Idxomer said:
Quite easily the most overrated player I've seen in this club, 1 good game in 5 we get from him if we're lucky.
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I agree. The view people have of him is heavily skewed by us being so utterly shite post-Ferguson, and him having a whirlwind first 6 months/season here scoring a bunch of pens
 
He is a moments player. Will score a world class goal or an amazing assist however his overall play is quite poor. In away games against decent opponents you need to ever have players that can maintain possession or set up quick counter attacks to try and get a goal on the break. Unfortunately Bruno wasn't able to do either
 
Because he set such high standards for himself in terms of goals and assists during the earlier stages of his career with us, when he doesn't score or make an assist so many fans on here anyway, are so quick to have a go at him.

He does have bad games, granted, but collectively the team were bad today. Some of the hysterical overreactions on here towards him are embarrassing. When we play well he is usually the most pivotal player for us.
 
Has he had one good game against any decent opposition in this year?
 
Red Rash said:
He is a moments player. Will score a world class goal or an amazing assist however his overall play is quite poor. In away games against decent opponents you need to ever have players that can maintain possession or set up quick counter attacks to try and get a goal on the break. Unfortunately Bruno wasn't able to do either
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This same post is basically said almost every game, by various posters, for years now. Most people seem to even agree with it, however, excuses are still made as to why it is apparently acceptable for us. I’ve personally grown tired of trying to explain why what you have said is a quite obvious problem for any successful side we are trying to build - especially when the ‘moments’ player you are referring to is not even Hazard, Messi, Haaland, Zidane or whatever.
 
Rozay said:
This same post is basically said almost every game, by various posters, for years now. Most people seem to even agree with it, however, excuses are still made as to why it is apparently acceptable for us. I’ve personally grown tired of trying to explain why what you have said is a quite obvious problem for any successful side we are trying to build - especially when the ‘moments’ player you are referring to is not even Hazard, Messi, Haaland, Zidane or whatever.
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I think he can be a useful player but only if we have Casemiro and a partner who can win the ball when he inevitably gives it away and quickly get him back into dangerous positions.

The word I'd use to describe Bruno is wasteful which is not what you need in a big away game against a decent team when you know your best midfield isn't available.

Really needs to know when to play it simple
 
predator said:
Because he set such high standards for himself in terms of goals and assists during the earlier stages of his career with us, when he doesn't score or make an assist so many fans on here anyway, are so quick to have a go at him.

He does have bad games, granted, but collectively the team were bad today. Some of the hysterical overreactions on here towards him are embarrassing. When we play well he is usually the most pivotal player for us.
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Never takes long for someone to come into the Bruno Fernandes thread after a terrible performance to say that while he was terrible, other players were too. Okay, cool.
 
Lemoor said:
Spurs, Arsenal, City, Barcelona? Not sure, who do you consider decent.
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Spurs and Arsenal were last year(I meant in this year, as I said).

He was good against Barcelona though, and against City I don't remember he was anyhwere near good enough, but he did score tbf.
 
He unbalanced midfields.

He can score and assist though. And moan and whine and kick people.
 
Amar__ said:
Spurs and Arsenal were last year(I meant in this year, as I said).

He was good against Barcelona though, and against City I don't remember he was anyhwere near good enough, but he did score tbf.
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Even in those games, it's a specific style in which he's good. It has to be end to end transitional stuff where he can just play off the cuff. He's fecking awful at "turning the screw" so to say which is a vital part of any world class side. Hell just watch Arsenal against Leeds yesterday, they are creating danger relentlessly without having to just endlessly hoof in crosses or try incredibly difficult through balls.
 
RedDevilCanuck said:
He unbalanced midfields.

He can score and assist though. And moan and whine and kick people.
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This part definitely doesn't help. It's a pretty off putting trait in people you encounter in day to day life but when you are losing a game of football you want players who will step up and push the team forward rather than complaining about everyone else, the other team or the ref.
 
How long before someone comes in here to tell us how many passes KDB gave away yesterday.

Games like today are the ones your top midfielder or creative player is meant to get on the ball and slow things down and get people into the game. Scholes did this as did Giggs. Bruno lacks this quality and only makes an already high tempo game, even faster with his decisions.

I just can't get my head around an AM not being good in tight spaces or being able to dribble. Someone like Mata wasn't a great dribbler but his touch and manipulation if the ball in tight spaces was elite.
 
Red Rash said:
I think he can be a useful player but only if we have Casemiro and a partner who can win the ball when he inevitably gives it away and quickly get him back into dangerous positions.

The word I'd use to describe Bruno is wasteful which is not what you need in a big away game against a decent team when you know your best midfield isn't available.

Really needs to know when to play it simple
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Fair enough. Not good enough for me. It is not good enough to only be good enough for a few touches of the ball a game. Not as a player in the centre of our play. Perhaps a #9 can get away with that - but there are simply too many instances in any given game where Bruno is not good enough. Which is harmful. As I said, if we were talking Thierry Henry or something, then I may just about accept some sort of ‘moments’ justification. But he’s also a long way from being the most talented or gifted player I’ve seen - so any justification of playing him due to a hoped ‘moment of brilliance’ isn’t sufficient for me.

To his credit, he does do his share off the ball, which makes it easier for him to be ‘carried’, however, I think the opportunity cost of having someone who is elite on the ball is too much for a team that wants to be what we want. With how we play we are basically saying we need an Mbappe or someone to win games and trophies as an individual. As a unit, we are miles behind Arsenal for example, and we have been miles behind the top sides in this respect for many years, even under Fergie. It’s who we are. We need to build a team from the right foundations, and I don’t see Bruno being a centrepiece of what we need. But I’ve said this many times so I won’t go on too much today.
 
Another terrible performance from Bruno. Caught in possession, heavy touches, spent forever debating decisions made several mins earlier.
 
RedDevilCanuck said:
He unbalanced midfields.

He can score and assist though. And moan and whine and kick people.
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His goals and assists numbers aren't that great to ignore his glaring weaknesses . United can forget about becoming a serious team as long as he is a regular starter .
 
Another competitive away game, another Bruno shambles.

He's not up to it in when the going is tough.
 
Amar__ said:
Spurs and Arsenal were last year(I meant in this year, as I said).

He was good against Barcelona though, and against City I don't remember he was anyhwere near good enough, but he did score tbf.
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Ah, sorry, thought you meant period of last ~12 months. I'd have to rewatch it to be sure, but I remember him being fairly good there and had a quick skim through that threadmark that seemed like it was a popular position too.
 
El Jefe said:
How long before someone comes in here to tell us how many passes KDB gave away yesterday.

Games like today are the ones your top midfielder or creative player is meant to get on the ball and slow things down and get people into the game. Scholes did this as did Giggs. Bruno lacks this quality and only makes an already high tempo game, even faster with his decisions.

I just can't get my head around an AM not being good in tight spaces or being able to dribble. Someone like Mata wasn't a great dribbler but his touch and manipulation if the ball in tight spaces was elite.
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While De Bruyne can be prone to giving the ball needlessly, it's usually in non-threatening areas. The thing is with him though he's able to just turn it on and play a possession game when needed. Yesterday, he had 87% passing accuracy while making 62 passes, 3 dribbles and 5 key passes. The sort of numbers Bruno can only dream of against a pressing team like Liverpool.
 
It's crazy how can somebody playing top level football be so inconsistent.
 
I'm not a fan of Bruno by any stretch but anytime I comment on him he puts in a good performance. So I'll stick to this point, I think he has played too many games in a row to be effective, physically he may be able to do it but today showed that mentally he might not be able to do it .

When the pressure is on I don't think he acts/reacts as clearly as he could with adequate rest between games, I honestly think he has mental fatigue.
 
I honestly don't know why, but he makes me feel uneasy in midfield, the stats don't back me but I just know he has no control.
 
I don't know why he was played so deep. Without ball carrying or possession acumen he tries to punt it as soon as possible. Also having to pick up the ball facing goal under pressure is far from a strength of his. It's too late in the season to be redefining Bruno's role
 
His overall game has never been great, he's all about that Hollywood moment, but for a top team that's really not good enough. That is more the type of player for a team not aiming to win the league for example.
 
El Jefe said:
Games like today are the ones your top midfielder or creative player is meant to get on the ball and slow things down and get people into the game. Scholes did this as did Giggs. Bruno lacks this quality and only makes an already high tempo game, even faster with his decisions.

I just can't get my head around an AM not being good in tight spaces or being able to dribble. Someone like Mata wasn't a great dribbler but his touch and manipulation if the ball in tight spaces was elite.
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He was playing quite a bit deeper today than McTominay and by average position ever so slightly deeper than Sabitzer.
 
Seems like only some months ago it was practically forbidden on the Caf to even insinuate he might be one of our bigger problems,
even with his evident pro's taken to account.

I wonder what made things change.

Anyways; we need our focal attacking players to not play like him.
Can't point a finger to his teammates as we need them to also not look like Sancho, Antony, Weghorst, Martial...

But still. Need him (and hopefully in the near future, his equivalent) to be much more disciplined.

Losing the ball is fine. even losing it rather often is sometimes passable, if you contribute heavily to other aspects of the team's game.
But all too often, Bruno doesn't.

And as a captain, you really can't do what he does when we play badly.
This constant moaning to the ref doesn't look like something that'll make him whistle in our favor in the next 50-50.
I can't prove it obviously, but refs seem sick of him rather than intimidated by him.
 
The Maguire of our midfield.

I said it, more than a million times, he's the quagmire of that midfield, he is why we play 4231. Untill that is solved such games today will be frequent.

That's why away from home, we get blown away.


We need players who can hold the ball more than 5 seconds under pressure at minimum, can recycle the football till the kingdom comes ( not Xavi level but you get the drift).

This will mean, better control and better chance creation. We haven't scored in how many games now in the league? Because we have no control or attacking plan because apparently our number 10 is a Hollywood footballer.

You saw how City destroyed Liverpool midfield, that's how good midfielders do.

I'm 100% sure Ten Hag will dispose Bruno within 18 months, if not Ten Hag will be sacked as the results will continue to deteriorate.
 
Red Rash said:
I think he can be a useful player but only if we have Casemiro and a partner who can win the ball when he inevitably gives it away and quickly get him back into dangerous positions.

The word I'd use to describe Bruno is wasteful which is not what you need in a big away game against a decent team when you know your best midfield isn't available.

Really needs to know when to play it simple
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I was going to say this but you've said it better already. Bruno without Case make us unbalanced because none of Fred, Sabitzer or McTom have great ball retention.

Bruno certainly isn't a major problem but I wouldn't mind seeing us invest in an understudy for him with better control of his passing. We don't have anybody else who can play AM.
 
I can’t warm to this guy at all. When it starts going bad, he’s the first to fold
 
Red Rash said:
I think he can be a useful player but only if we have Casemiro and a partner who can win the ball when he inevitably gives it away and quickly get him back into dangerous positions.

The word I'd use to describe Bruno is wasteful which is not what you need in a big away game against a decent team when you know your best midfield isn't available.

Really needs to know when to play it simple
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very good post.

Bruno reminds me of Gerrard in that respect.
there's time and place for the all-action, gung-ho style.
When it's needed and executed well, it's mouth-watering.

When it's the last thing you need but your main players are not able to ditch it,
they'll bury you.

Their highlights reel will make you look foolish for criticizing them, but well...
 
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