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2023-24 Performances


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5.5 Season Average Rating
Appearances
48
Goals
15
Assists
13
Yellow cards
12
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He's technically excellent and has incredible work rate, which a recipe for greatness, except that he's very stupid.

I don't know how many goals we've conceded because of his mistakes. But today he killed our momentum, first by his mistake for the goal, and 2nd by his Hollywood passes. His shameful yellow card tells you all you need to know about his leadership. He wants nothing to do with the trip to Anfield.
He is not he is fairly limited player with some significant flaws .
 
Eh what?

Some of his final third passing can be technically excellent (although when you try as many as he does some are bound to come off). But with the ball at his feet he's a dope. His first touch is Lukaku-esque at times.
His passing can be great, he just doesn't take the time to think about it. Some players like Scholes were capable of that, because they had a great football brain and knew exactly where everyone was, Bruno is just thick.
 
His passing can be great, he just doesn't take the time to think about it. Some players like Scholes were capable of that, because they had a great football brain and knew exactly where everyone was, Bruno is just thick.

Well this is undeniable yeh.

Bruno's no-look passes and flicks cost us possession more times in a half of football than Scholes' in an entire season.

And that's not hyperbole.
 
He thinks he’s better than he is, very little composure, Hollywood passes that now never come off, flicks to no one.

Put a De Bruyne or Odegard into this team and they’d help control games much better.
 
Bruno should not be playing with McTominay. Nor should he be playing with Mount or Eriksen, or Van de Beek for that matter. All of these players, ideally, wanna be the most advanced of a midfield three. All of these players become tougher to accommodate the closer they're asked to play to our goal. Especially if, god forbid, they're played together. Meaning there's only one person in the middle of the park who actually likes, and is comfortable, playing in the heart of midfield.

Bruno was off today. Yes his high pass completion rate from recent games continued. However, did he really look dangerous at any stage? I think there was one ball from the inside left channel in the first half that nearly led to something. Besides that..? I agree that he has to at least try to be more conservative if playing with another attack minded midfielder e.g., McTominay. However, that just begs the question: Why are they playing together?

Conservative Bruno, I'm afraid, is half the player. He's not making chances for your forwards and he's not really that effective going back the other way. Yes he can do an admirable Fred impression, running around like a headless chicken. However, in terms of being well positioned to screen the defence, or well equipped to get on the ball and start our play, he's not even close to being a pound shop Michael Carrick.

Ten Hag has to make a decision. Placing defensive responsibility on Bruno, telling him to play safer passes, makes him less effective. To the point where its not even worth playing him. So just don't play him if that's what's needed. I wouldn't pick McTominay over Bruno but, if the manager is sweet on Scott, at least put a proper central midfield pairing out there alongside him. Bruno is a #10 not an #8.
 
He's technically excellent and has incredible work rate, which a recipe for greatness, except that he's very stupid.

I don't know how many goals we've conceded because of his mistakes. But today he killed our momentum, first by his mistake for the goal, and 2nd by his Hollywood passes. His shameful yellow card tells you all you need to know about his leadership. He wants nothing to do with the trip to Anfield.
He certainly isn't that. Players such as David Silva, Riquelme, Iniesta were technically excellent. Bruno has an above average technique with the ability to pull of a worldie assist every so often but his dribbling, first touch etc are not on a world class level.
 
So after what 4 or 5 years with us you know that when he plays well, this is normal standard but when he doesn't play well, it is because of his dysfunctional team mates?

You make it sound like the Chelsea game was an anomaly. It wasn't. He's had dozens of equally good or better performances since joining us.

There is a common theme with Bruno over the years. When the team plays well (like actually well, not just nicking wins), Bruno is typically at the heart of it. He also has the capacity to bail us out on bad days, which obviously has been useful considering how poor we've been over the years.

So then we are left with the poor performances. What is typical of Bruno in his poor performances? It is as many say those damn Hollywood passes. But you have to ask yourself why he resorts to so many of them almost specifically on bad days. Is it perhaps because he understands that playing it safe probably will lead to nothing? That perhaps a Hollywood pass or a moment of magic is the only thing that can save the team?

He has proven plenty of times that he can keep things simple and recycle possession if he wants to. I don't blame him for taking chances, even though it sometimes can go a little overboard. Today we had around 50 touches inside the opponent's box and still looked completely toothless. We are simply allergic to scoring goals and building chances meticulously. And that is not Bruno's fault. He is one of the few proper footballers we have.
 
His stinking attitude is worse than his shitty inconsistent football.
He makes me hate watching United, constantly diving, whining, moaning. He is a clown
 
I asked this in the match day thread and gonna ask here again, what qualifies as a chance nowadays? Bruno tops the league in chance creation but the majority of the time it’s just these pointless Hollywood ball that no one can reasonably reach.
 
He certainly isn't that. Players such as David Silva, Riquelme, Iniesta were technically excellent. Bruno has an above average technique with the ability to pull of a worldie assist every so often but his dribbling, first touch etc are not on a world class level.
I don’t know what qualifies in your opinion as world class but his first touch is excellent, usually kills the ball dead even when receiving a rushed/over hit pass. His glaring flaws though are being weak in duels combined with these nonchalant passing attempts, either Hollywood lofted balls, flicks on, backheels or just plain short simple passes. When he has a bad day it’s like him actively playing against you with the constant turnovers.
 
Maybe not that bad he won’t be on the pitch at Anfield. His passing is awful. He should be the dictator of our game.
 
He's technically excellent and has incredible work rate, which a recipe for greatness, except that he's very stupid.

I don't know how many goals we've conceded because of his mistakes. But today he killed our momentum, first by his mistake for the goal, and 2nd by his Hollywood passes. His shameful yellow card tells you all you need to know about his leadership. He wants nothing to do with the trip to Anfield.
He's really not technically stand out,
 
I've never had a love/hate relationship with a player like this. When he's good he's great but when he's bad god damn he's absolutely awful. Sometimes he behaves in a way that I say there you go that's captain's mentality and leadership and sometimes I want to send him to the reserves.

Overall he's a luxury player, high fisk high reward type. At the moment we are so toothless in attack that he must play 100% as we barely generate chances. But on the long run if we're going to be a serious team we need to move him on. His deficiencies shine the most when the team's playing badly.
 
But you have to ask yourself why he resorts to so many of them almost specifically on bad days. Is it perhaps because he understands that playing it safe probably will lead to nothing? That perhaps a Hollywood pass or a moment of magic is the only thing that can save the team?
I see. So he is sacrificing himself for the greater good of the team? Trying to save it?

Just fyi - I think, your post is an Agenda post in its purest form. :)
 
Glad he is missing next week, he has been a disgrace this season. When you talk about clear outs that need to happen, he should be one of the first names on it.
 
I see. So he is sacrificing himself for the greater good of the team? Trying to save it?

That's not what I said. Hitting a few Hollywood passes is fine if you are good enough. The issue is when it gets out of hand and you hit too many of them, which has been the tendency when Bruno plays poorly (almost exclusively on rough days when the whole team struggles). The reason for the passes might very well be a lack of trust in his team mates or simple desperation because we aren't performing well. The end result is still the same though.

But you seem uninterested in an actual discussion so I don't see the point in engaging further.

Just fyi - I think, your post is an Agenda post in its purest form. :)

Oh the irony.
 
You make it sound like the Chelsea game was an anomaly. It wasn't. He's had dozens of equally good or better performances since joining us.

There is a common theme with Bruno over the years. When the team plays well (like actually well, not just nicking wins), Bruno is typically at the heart of it. He also has the capacity to bail us out on bad days, which obviously has been useful considering how poor we've been over the years.

So then we are left with the poor performances. What is typical of Bruno in his poor performances? It is as many say those damn Hollywood passes. But you have to ask yourself why he resorts to so many of them almost specifically on bad days. Is it perhaps because he understands that playing it safe probably will lead to nothing? That perhaps a Hollywood pass or a moment of magic is the only thing that can save the team?

He has proven plenty of times that he can keep things simple and recycle possession if he wants to. I don't blame him for taking chances, even though it sometimes can go a little overboard. Today we had around 50 touches inside the opponent's box and still looked completely toothless. We are simply allergic to scoring goals and building chances meticulously. And that is not Bruno's fault. He is one of the few proper footballers we have.

I think on your last paragraph its the opposite, he's proven on many an occasion to not be able to read the temperature of a game and when things get emotional or desperate so does his play. He is a very creative player but when he drops deeper you see that the consistency in his passing and decision making is not that great. Now that's not saying he is a bad player but its clear to get the best out of Bruno you need to give him the freedom to just be creative and lose the ball in the process. Which is why he excels in the no 10 role, but also why he is not as effective when having to play as an 8 or functioing 3. When you are looking to dominate possesion the last thing you want is a player who more than any other player is constantly playing dangerous balls whether in the oppositions half or your own. Its fine when you are playing defensive with 2 cdms etc but when you have to be careful with the ball he's not that guy. Again that doesnt mean he's not a good player.

For me its been clear that the no 10 role has been dead for a while and yet we have built our team around a no 10 and wonder why we are pretty much a europa team. Now he alone is not the only reason why we struggle in possession (mct, rashford, our positional play, game intelligence etc) but he is a part of it.
 
That's not what I said. Hitting a few Hollywood passes is fine if you are good enough. The issue is when it gets out of hand and you hit too many of them, which has been the tendency when Bruno plays poorly (almost exclusively on rough days when the whole team struggles). The reason for the passes might very well be a lack of trust in his team mates or simple desperation because we aren't performing well. The end result is still the same though.

But you seem uninterested in an actual discussion so I don't see the point in engaging further.



Oh the irony.
It is funny, that you are trying to take the high road mate. Lets be clear, I am actually not really interested in debating with you, because you, like a few others are reluctant to even try to understand the criticism that is brought up in this thread for quite some time now. You are enjoying yourself on nights like against Chelsea but on nights like this, the agenda guys are out there again. Got it mate.

You seem to think, that only criticism can be agenda-driven. Thanks you for highlighting that this is absolutely not the case - coming in here after such a bad performance and trying to spin it as if it is his team mates fault that he lost his head and gets a booking I'd shout at for with an 18 year old fresh from the academy. Ironic indeed. Have a good night.
 
His bottom level is just too disgraceful to rely upon his as a captain week in week out. As per, if we’re losing in a game and struggling rather than rally the team and stamp down his authority in the game he becomes rash, careless and overly emotional. Literally the worse captain in this clubs history because it’s everything you wouldn’t want in a captain. I’m very happy he’s not playing next week. It means we should at least have a disciplined player in there for when Livepoool race into a 3-0 lead without this guy having a gigantic meltdown and making it worse.
 
His stinking attitude is worse than his shitty inconsistent football.
He makes me hate watching United, constantly diving, whining, moaning. He is a clown

This. So unlikeable. And he's the captain of my team. Not sure he would be first out of the door, but he is not far off.
 
For me its been clear that the no 10 role has been dead for a while and yet we have built our team around a no 10 and wonder why we are pretty much a europa team. Now he alone is not the only reason why we struggle in possession (mct, rashford, our positional play, game intelligence etc) but he is a part of it.
And a no 10 that isn't even skillset wise a very rounded one. His ability to see and execute passes is next to not many out there. His fitness and injury record is incredible. And he doesn't shy away from defensive work (even if his output there isn't as fantastic just because he runs around a lot).
But he is not great on the ball, dribbling wise which is a pretty problematic issue in times where you get pressed a lot.

I agree with you - it is understandable that we build upon him. He was one of the better players in our team. But football moved on. Many teams do not have a player that produces so many chances by himself - but they are producing more chances as a team. This is the way to go. I don't know if Bruno can be part of such a team. My take is no but who am I to know that.
 
Whoever the next manager is, he needs to go if we're gonna progress as a team. He's such a limited player.
 
reluctant to even try to understand the criticism

I understand the criticism and I disagree with most of it. Perhaps that is shocking to you.

I agree that Bruno plays too many silly Hollywood passes (particularly on rainy days). I agree that Bruno isn't the most technically gifted compared many other midfielders at the highest level and that dribbling for instance is a non-existent part of his repertoire. No disagreements from me there.

A few examples of what I don't agree with:

- That he is not good enough to be a starter for a title winning team
- That he overall is a problem and that we should get rid of him
- That his weaknesses offset his strengths

I think that Bruno is a very good player. Possibly our best. And he's probably the last player in the team that I'd get rid of. I don't think that this is very high praise considering how mediocre our team is.

If this counts as an agenda to you, then so be it.

Good night to you too.
 
There was a time early in the second half when we were putting them under pressure for about 5/10 minutes and it was looking like we’d score.

he picked the ball up just inside there half after it was cleared and instead of just keeping the ball and keeping the momentum he punted a 50 yard eye of the needle pass out of play. Momentum killed.
 
There was a time early in the second half when we were putting them under pressure for about 5/10 minutes and it was looking like we’d score.

he picked the ball up just inside there half after it was cleared and instead of just keeping the ball and keeping the momentum he punted a 50 yard eye of the needle pass out of play. Momentum killed.
Yeah that pass or attempt at a pass absolutely stupid killed the moment as we were all over them putting them under siege and then he let them off trying something ridiculous. It’s just part of his game I guess and he wasn’t the only one doing stupid things and letting them off the hook.
 
Ashley Young was club captain in 19/20, which was probably worse. Can't think of another though.
I can’t remember Young getting intentionally booked to avoid playing in a mauling next weekend though .
 
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