[zaafi]

His biggest problem, which needs addressing ASAP, is his constant habit of shooting from 30 yards out and never even getting the shot on target. The players are passing the ball around keeping possession, and instead of being patient and trying to find an opening, he gets the ball and just shoots.

This is a really big concern, because it offers the opposition a chance to attack us, and his shots do nothing 99% of the time.

Just keep hold of the ball ffs!

I am not sure what ETH is telling the players, because him, Fred, Dalot and Antony are really bad for this, it is so wasteful and pointless.

I agree. There was one particular moment shortly after Martial had come on and he was linking up with everyone outside their box, and they were all playing patiently with quick one-twos until the ball got to Bruno's feet where he just blasted it all he could as if he just wanted to get rid of the ball

 

[Strelok]

Is that the game where he created like 9 chances or something? If it was, that was an absolute world class performance, but a different one from yesterday. He still had his natural chaotic style against Tottenham, but literally everything worked out in his favour. It was fantastic to watch.

Yesterday, while playing calmly and controlled, he created 3 chances which is more than how many he created against Newcastle, so this playstyle will allow him to do both. He just needs to be patient.

No he wasn't anything remotely chaotic against Spurs. If my memory serves me right he had like a 9x % pass success rate. The match was so good I had to watch it twice.

Yesterday in the first half tbh I couldn't remember even one chance he created despite the 7x % possession we had. I was watching and wondering how the feck we're supposed to score. His three chances you said probably came in the second half when we sit back a bit and try to counter. But I might be wrong though.

Anyway the point here imo is the notion of Bruno can't play any style than his stereotype gungho must die. Or he's some impatient brainless player who just does what he wants regardless of what ETH tells him. He's clearly capable of playing in a much calmer, possession oriented style and he simply does what ETH asks him imo. That's imo probably why ETH often praises him regardless of what style he did that day.

 

[zaafi]

No he wasn't anything remotely chaotic against Spurs. If my memory serves me right he had like a 9x % pass success rate. The match was so good I had to watch it twice.

Yesterday in the first half tbh I couldn't remember even one chance he created despite the 7x % possession we had. I was watching and wondering how the feck we're supposed to score. His three chances you said probably came in the second half when we sit back a bit and try to counter. But I might be wrong though.

Anyway the point here imo is the notion of Bruno can't play any style than his stereotype gungho must die. Or he's some impatient brainless player who just does what he wants regardless of what ETH tells him. He's clearly capable of playing in a much calmer, possession oriented style and he simply does what ETH asks him imo. That's imo probably why ETH often praises him regardless of what style he did that day.

Like I said, everything worked out in his favour. You don't get 93% pass completion while creating 9 chances without a bit of luck in it. It was a sensational performance, but he still had these passes that would normally not work out.

I agree, though. I didn't know where the goals would come from either, but that happens every now and then. Even if Bruno would play a bit more advanced, the goals still wouldn't come easy as we saw with Newcastle. He played his standard style but only created two chances.

Regarding the bolded part, I agree and imo he needs to play like this more, and I don't believe Ten Hag is to get credit for Bruno's performance yesterday. Doubt Ten Hag goes about like "Bruno, play chaos this match" and he goes on about creating 9 chances.

 

[TsuWave]

Thought he was decent yesterday. Still saw signs of CTE, but it was better than his usual

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I only saw bits and pieces of the match, in 5 minute bursts

Each time I saw it, he was terrible. Yet people who watched it all are saying he played well. He must have been good in the bits that I didn’t see

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Just looking up stats on Fbref and they show he was basically a one man central midfield. I thought Sabitzer had a good game and I've seen McT get some praise but it's insane how much more of an impact Bruno had on the game.

I'll compare his stats to the two of them combined:

Touches 111 vs 75
Passes Completed 85 vs 45
Pass Completion % 83.5% vs 69% (average of McT/S)
Carries 57 vs 40
Shots 1 vs 4
Tackles 1 vs 1
Interceptions 2 vs 0
Blocks 2 vs 2

So the one and only metric he produced less than our other two CMs combined was shots on goal.

Bear in mind this was a game where we had 65% possession. Which makes his performance even more crazy impressive. Although that discipline does seem to come at a cost, as he didn't seem to be as creative as you would usually expect from him.

 

[Oranges038]

Just looking up stats on Fbref and they show he was basically a one man central midfield. I thought Sabitzer had a good game and I've seen McT get some praise but it's insane how much more of an impact Bruno had on the game.

I'll compare his stats to the two of them combined:

Touches 111 vs 75
Passes Completed 85 vs 45
Pass Completion % 83.5% vs 69% (average of McT/S)
Carries 57 vs 40
Shots 1 vs 4
Tackles 1 vs 1
Interceptions 2 vs 0
Blocks 2 vs 2

So the one and only metric he produced less than our other two CMs combined was shots on goal.

Bear in mind this was a game where we had 65% possession. Which makes his performance even more crazy impressive. Although that discipline does seem to come at a cost, as he didn't seem to be as creative as you would usually expect from him.

Yet, McT got motm???

You'd have to question what game people were watching.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yet, McT got motm???

You'd have to question what game people were watching.

MOTM voting is (almost) always idiotic. I'm sure McT got the vote purely on the basis of two (admittedly very good) blocked crosses near the end of the game. Classic recency bias.

 

[The Firestarter]

Yet, McT got motm???

You'd have to question what game people were watching.

It's a joke

 

[Oranges038]

MOTM voting is (almost) always idiotic. I'm sure McT got the vote purely on the basis of two (admittedly very good) blocked crosses near the end of the game. Classic recency bias.

Even on the game I was watching on Bein they gave McT Motm.

 

[Borys]

Just looking up stats on Fbref and they show he was basically a one man central midfield. I thought Sabitzer had a good game and I've seen McT get some praise but it's insane how much more of an impact Bruno had on the game.

I'll compare his stats to the two of them combined:

Touches 111 vs 75
Passes Completed 85 vs 45
Pass Completion % 83.5% vs 69% (average of McT/S)
Carries 57 vs 40
Shots 1 vs 4
Tackles 1 vs 1
Interceptions 2 vs 0
Blocks 2 vs 2

So the one and only metric he produced less than our other two CMs combined was shots on goal.

Bear in mind this was a game where we had 65% possession. Which makes his performance even more crazy impressive. Although that discipline does seem to come at a cost, as he didn't seem to be as creative as you would usually expect from him.

Bit of a stretch but seems like we could've played any Bruno +2 configuration yesterday and pretty much expect the same outcome. I didn't watch the game very closely yesterday but I still can't figure out what exactly McTominay and Sabitzer are supposed to be doing in this system, they seem to pop up in random places around the pitch and they don't really drop deep apart from the moment we're actually pinned back (that's when McTominay proves most useful).

 

[sebsheep]

Basically Ten Hags agrees with the so-called Haters. Who would have thought playing for control instead of being the hero is classed a brilliant performance by our Manager.

I mean that's one way to spin it. A more logical view might be that different roles require different ways of playing so that manager was happy with the way Fernandes performed a deeper role last night, just as he has been happy when he's played in a different way when playing as a no 10 or wide right.

 

[The United]

Bruno had a good performance, but we controlled the game because Brentford were happy to stay deep and they didn't really press us in organized way.
Again, I don't want to take credit from Bruno, but this was an easy game and we really didn't play that good. He got the basics right (and wasn't careless) but nothing that would make me think "let's play him deep from now on". Eriksen in CM is a level above and even he isn't a natural deep midfielder.

He can be the 3rd midfielder but in any "normal" circumstances (when we don't have to pretend one of McTominay or Sabitzer is a DM) he should always play the most advanced role.

BTW Bruno probably had better performances on the right wing anyway.

You are not getting what I meant. ETH clearly thinks he can play deep while many here thought it was impossible due to his wastefulness and ETH probably even wants to bin him by moving to the wings or playing Wout in no 10, etc.

Not that I personally think he is a good CM.

 

[El Jefe]

He was only able to play like this because Brentford, surprisingly, didn't really press us and just sat off. Bruno's issues come to the fore when he's pressed like Newcastle did

This should be obvious to anyone who watched the match. He did well no doubt about that, but Brentford pretty much let us have the ball especially in the first.

Away from home or against a top side and we know the things will be completely different.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This should be obvious to anyone who watched the match. He did well no doubt about that, but Brentford pretty much let us have the ball especially in the first.

Away from home or against a top side and we know the things will be completely different.

That’s why he shouldn’t play as a CM in those fixtures. Still great to have a player versatile enough to play so many attacking roles and excel as a CM in a match like last night. Wouldn’t you agree?

 

[Borys]

You are not getting what I meant. ETH clearly thinks he can play deep while many here thought it was impossible due to his wastefulness and ETH probably even wants to bin him by moving to the wings or playing Wout in no 10, etc.

Not that I personally think he is a good CM.

Well you can definitely play him in midfield, just as you can play Sabitzer in an advanced role, Rashford on the right etc. If that really is the best option I really really don't think so, but I also don't think one decent game vs very defensive Brentford is a proof that Bruno is a good CM as some on here are trying to convince us.

I do question what ETH is trying to achieve with the setup he chooses when Casemiro is out and I still don't see how this is supposed to work. It is a bit of a worry at the moment, but I just hope we somehow survive the last game without Casemiro and then we should be good.

 

[El Jefe]

That’s why he shouldn’t play as a CM in those fixtures. Still great to have a player versatile enough to play so many attacking roles and excel as a CM in a match like last night. Wouldn’t you agree?

Agreed but ideally we need to limit the need to having him play there to as close to zero as possible. It worked yesterday but its the sort of thing that could fail against Everton if tried again this weekend.

I love his versatility in the attacking positions just not in CM.

 

[Borys]

Agreed but ideally we need to limit the need to having him play there to as close to zero as possible. It worked yesterday but its the sort of thing that could fail against Everton if tried again this weekend.

I love his versatility in the attacking positions just not in CM.

Exactly how I see it.
We could've played Fred in midfield and leave Bruno in AM role and I'd argue we would've been better off than the weird setup of Bruno dropping so deep and others pushing high. Bruno is a kind of player that will do something positive regardless of where he plays on the pitch, but in games like yesterday I thought it would be more logical to play him close to the box since we were given a lot of space and time by Brentford players.

 

[KikiDaKats]

I mean that's one way to spin it. A more logical view might be that different roles require different ways of playing so that manager was happy with the way Fernandes performed a deeper role last night, just as he has been happy when he's played in a different way when playing as a no 10 or wide right.

There is no spinning here pal. Was this not the same requirement over the weekend?

Stop trying to treat us like mugs to justify your fondness for an individual. You think we are not fond of him because we ask questions. The first game he played in that same position we all said he played it very well but at Newcastle he played it poorly but you want us to sit here talking about his minutes played or him playing out of position. He can be positioned 10 and still assigned CM role in possession because manager wants to use CM as runners, tactics are not always that straightforward.

 

[zaafi]

I mean that's one way to spin it. A more logical view might be that different roles require different ways of playing so that manager was happy with the way Fernandes performed a deeper role last night, just as he has been happy when he's played in a different way when playing as a no 10 or wide right.

Different roles require different ways of playing, but how is Ødegaard able to play number 10 a lot differently to Bruno then?
It's about skillset and Bruno doesn't possess the same. He can't play every role well and because the manager says so doesn't really make it true.

 

[KikiDaKats]

MOTM voting is (almost) always idiotic. I'm sure McT got the vote purely on the basis of two (admittedly very good) blocked crosses near the end of the game. Classic recency bias.

His positioning was quite good. Not seen that from him for a good few months to be honest.

 

[King7Eric]

Yet, McT got motm???

You'd have to question what game people were watching.

Because not every midfielder has the same role. Bruno's role was to be on the ball as much as possible while Sabitzer was tasked with making forward off the ball runs and be in half wide positions as often as he could. The only time McT got forward was when he was carrying the ball otherwise the moment he got it he was trying to find Bruno who was constantly keeping himself available.

Since this happened throughout the game it must have been ETH's instructions and all 3 played their respective part very well.

 

[sebsheep]

Different roles require different ways of playing, but how is Ødegaard able to play number 10 a lot differently to Bruno then?
It's about skillset and Bruno doesn't possess the same. He can't play every role well and because the manager says so doesn't really make it true.

Because not every No. 10 is required to play in the same way? They might be playing the same position but their role requirements aren't necessarily the same.
Is your point that he hasn't played well in the other positions? Because that would be a daft suggestion.

There is no spinning here pal. Was this not the same requirement over the weekend?

Stop trying to treat us like mugs to justify your fondness for an individual. You think we are not fond of him because we ask questions. The first game he played in that same position we all said he played it very well but at Newcastle he played it poorly but you want us to sit here talking about his minutes played or him playing out of position. He can be positioned 10 and still assigned CM role in possession because manager wants to use CM as runners, tactics are not always that straightforward.

You're taking the mangers comments on one game and using it to justify criticising the way he usually plays in a completely different role, whilst ignoring praise given to him by the same manager for doing that. How are you not spinning things?

 

[zaafi]

Because not every No. 10 is required to play in the same way? They might be playing the same position but their role requirements aren't necessarily the same.
Is your point that he hasn't played well in the other positions? Because that would be a daft suggestion.

My point is that Bruno can play like he did yesterday in the number 10 position as well. He can retain possession while creating chances, similarly to Ødegaard and United as a team would be better off with that approach.

 

[KikiDaKats]

Because not every No. 10 is required to play in the same way? They might be playing the same position but their role requirements aren't necessarily the same.
Is your point that he hasn't played well in the other positions? Because that would be a daft suggestion.


You're taking the mangers comments on one game and using it to justify criticising the way he usually plays in a completely different role, whilst ignoring praise given to him by the same manager for doing that. How are you not spinning things?

Are you sure about this? One thing you’ll never see me do is conflate unrelated performances. If I were to do that I’d mark that performance down but I took it at face value and appreciate what he did in the position because thats what I expect from cm.
I reference the Newcastle performance because he played the same position which comes with a specific expectation to help your team control the game. Yet the variables might be different but that will then lead me into murky waters and I just want to appreciate him playing in a certain way.

 

[Pscholes18]

I dont really watch other Premier League clubs, but what other player plays in the same position as Bruno, but is better?

 

[berbatrick]

Just looking up stats on Fbref and they show he was basically a one man central midfield. I thought Sabitzer had a good game and I've seen McT get some praise but it's insane how much more of an impact Bruno had on the game.

I'll compare his stats to the two of them combined:

Touches 111 vs 75
Passes Completed 85 vs 45
Pass Completion % 83.5% vs 69% (average of McT/S)
Carries 57 vs 40
Shots 1 vs 4
Tackles 1 vs 1
Interceptions 2 vs 0
Blocks 2 vs 2

So the one and only metric he produced less than our other two CMs combined was shots on goal.

Bear in mind this was a game where we had 65% possession. Which makes his performance even more crazy impressive. Although that discipline does seem to come at a cost, as he didn't seem to be as creative as you would usually expect from him.

Sabitzer did produce the one assist in the whole game, it kind of matters! Especially since this is the Bruno thread, and his headline contribution is often the best part of his play.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Sabitzer did produce the one assist in the whole game, it kind of matters! Especially since this is the Bruno thread, and his headline contribution is often the best part of his play.

I thought Sabitzer has his best game in a United shirt. As I said in his thread. I was actually quite surprised at his underwhelming stats. Really just using those data to show what a massive influence Bruno was on the game.

 

[croadyman]

I dont really watch other Premier League clubs, but what other player plays in the same position as Bruno, but is better?

Maddison could offer different style of 10

 

[bosnian_red]

I dont really watch other Premier League clubs, but what other player plays in the same position as Bruno, but is better?

Odegaard and generally de Bruyne are the obvious two. Bruno is 3rd, Maddison up there probably too.

 

[shamans]

I dont really watch other Premier League clubs, but what other player plays in the same position as Bruno, but is better?

Odegaard and De Bruyne.

 

[Chief123]

Absolutely brilliant today. It’s been a masterstroke by ETH to play him in a deeper play making role. Previous managers have rarely played him there. I’d like to see him there and Eriksen at 10 for rest of season.

 

[Sylar]

Best game in ages... Well thats a lie, thought he was fantastic deeper against brentford too.
But that first half, was creating for fun.

His tracking back and going forward is something else

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Incredible performance

 

[The United]

Agreed but ideally we need to limit the need to having him play there to as close to zero as possible. It worked yesterday but its the sort of thing that could fail against Everton if tried again this weekend.

I love his versatility in the attacking positions just not in CM.

Well, it didn't, and it had one of the best games. I myself don't think he can play in the deep center against very good teams, but Everton, come on.

 

[Red Royal]

Scholes-esque performance today.

 

[DWelbz19]

Really good today. Fell off a little bit when Iwobi pressed him in the second half, though. Maybe he can be an option in the 8 at home against weaker sides.

 

[slored1]

He is world class when we play at home and a headless chicken away from home. Magnificent today.

 

[zaafi]

What a fecking performance. Keep playing him there as long as he plays like this. Bruno de Jong.

 

[Kag]

He’s a brilliant footballer.

At home, I’m not against pursuing this position for him.