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2024-25 Performances

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5.7 Season Average Rating
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The only thing that’s different is that his low percentage game is not coming off right now.

The flaws we are seeing have always been there. For people who don’t believe, go and look at the scounting reports and the news article about why we didn’t sign him in the summer of 2019.
Heck, check what the Sporting Lisbon fans on here said about him before we signed him.

He is a chaos player who struggles outside those conditions.
 
Adisa said:
Still hursts how I was ridiculed for suggesting he should be sold to the highest bidder.
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I'm not surprised. He has a rabid cohort of fans - much like Maguire - who act like attack dogs when people rightfully criticise either player. Watch how they'll flood this thread and give it back to the 'haters' when Bruno inevitably has a good game. He would have been one of the first on my list to ship out this summer.
 
Deserves to be dropped to sort his head out and stop with the high risk low reward plays. I'd have subbed Bruno out instead of Rashford yesterday and shift Amad into the middle.
 
I would love to see a few games where our attack isn't built around him, but much like Rooney in 15/16, he's always going to play.

It's unimaginable how often he gives the ball away, either by holding it too long, or under/over-hitting passes. For a no.10, his weight of pass is awful. We know he's a high-risk high-reward player, but the majority of times he's giving the ball away, he's not doing anything high-risk, he's just not passing the ball well.


It feels like we play him because we know that out of the full 90 minutes, he could have 20 seconds where he's good, and that could be enough to win the game. He did almost score in the 2nd half with a good strike that skimmed wide of the top corner. It seems like he's on the pitch purely for those moments, and not what he can contribute for the entire game. If he's not scoring, he's the weak link.
 
Bruno epitomises the problems at United for the past decade.
For some strange reason, the club went from someone like Fergie, who would drop or sell an in-form player, if he didn't think they were fitting in, to a series of managers who kept players in the team even if they were playing dross. Bruno is a prime example.

To me, this has been Uniteds biggest problem for years, they are afraid to drop players with reputation, whereas Fergie never gave a shit about that. Rashford is another example of this.

I've said it several times, but keeping Bruno as the main man, simply because he'll have a good game or score a goal once in a while, is exactly what's holding the team back from pushing on.

It won't change until a manager comes in who's not afraid to drop players like this and instead goes for form or players that truly fit their system.
 
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Jock Steins Boots said:
Bruno epitomises the problems at United for the past decade.
For some strange reason, the club went from someone like Fergie, who would drop or sell an in-form player, if he didn't think they were fitting in, to a series of managers who kept players in the team even if they were playing dross. Bruno is a prime example.

To me, this has been United biggest problem for years, they are afraid to drop players with reputation, whereas Fergie never gave a shit about that. Rashford is another example of this.

I've said it several times, but keeping Bruno as the main man, simply because he'll have a good game or score a goal once in a while, is exactly what's holding the team back from pushing on.

It won't change until a manager comes in who's not afraid to drop players like this and instead goes for form or players that truly fit their system.
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I don't thing Ten Hag has shown that he is afraid of reputation given how he handled Ronaldo, but he does need an easier get out than just performances to drop a player it seems (Eg, a disciplinary issue)
 
sugar_kane said:
I don't thing Ten Hag has shown that he is afraid of reputation given how he handled Ronaldo, but he does need an easier get out than just performances to drop a player it seems (Eg, a disciplinary issue)
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But that's just it, it shouldn't come down to something like a disciplinary issue, before ETH feels he can drop someone.

Right there is the problem.

Did Fergie ever need a disciplinary issue before he dropped a player? Not on your life.
It should only ever come down to performances. Their sole job is to play football, at the highest level, at all times. Sure, they can have the odd game where they are off, but not a whole run of games, which is what Bruno has had now.
How long do you give it before the age old quote of 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' kicks in?
I just don't understand what the problem is. Is it a fear that if United drop Bruno the team might play shit? As opposed to what? Playing shit with him in the team as he is right now?
 
Shane88 said:
Do De Bruyne or Odegaard have a pointless tame pop at goal from 35 yards out in that position, in that situation? Do they feck...
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When you put it like that, it’s a damning indictment on us. Why have we indulged him to such a level?
 
A broken clock is right twice a day. Perhaps this marks the beginning of Bruno's decline (far too early to say), but that doesn't take away his obvious class up until recently.

Best post-Fergie outfield player. It will be a sad day when he leaves. Our last genuinely good player after De Gea left. There are some players with potential in the team, but we've had many of those over the years. Mainoo is the only one who seems inevitable, provided no serious injury problems.
 
Said it before and will say it again- him being captain of Manchester United is disgrace and insult to great captains we had over the years.

Constantly whining and throwing tantrums towards other players when he's the one who loses possesion left, right and center is hard to stomach and should wear armband never again!

This new contract means we're stuck with him, INEOS really made a mess out of it.
 
Jock Steins Boots said:
But that's just it, it shouldn't come down to something like a disciplinary issue, before ETH feels he can drop someone.

Right there is the problem.

Did Fergie ever need a disciplinary issue before he dropped a player? Not on your life.
It should only ever come down to performances. Their sole job is to play football, at the highest level, at all times. Sure, they can have the odd game where they are off, but not a whole run of games, which is what Bruno has had now.
How long do you give it before the age old quote of 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' kicks in?
I just don't understand what the problem is. Is it a fear that if United drop Bruno the team might play shit? As opposed to what? Playing shit with him in the team as he is right now?
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There is a very obvious answer to that. That removing Bruno isn't making us a better team all of a sudden. Granted, probably more suited to "better football" the way we want to see but until that comes off and is productive, it might take a while. Managers are measured for their results. And players like Bruno and Rashford are able to influence results from one second to the other. And there would be enough fans getting on the managers back when he doesn't play certain players. When one thing is true throughout it is the law that most players become better and better the longer they don't get chances to disappoint.
 
He needs to go. Offering a fat new contract was a mistake. Looks like INEOS aren't perfect after all.

He is 30 now and it looks like his decline has already started.
 
Scandi Red said:
A broken clock is right twice a day. Perhaps this marks the beginning of Bruno's decline (far too early to say), but that doesn't take away his obvious class up until recently.

Best post-Fergie outfield player. It will be a sad day when he leaves. Our last genuinely good player after De Gea left. There are some players with potential in the team, but we've had many of those over the years. Mainoo is the only one who seems inevitable, provided no serious injury problems.
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Brilliant. I sense a theme.

 
mk7 said:
But then again he plays completely differently for Portugal. That does my head in ... But other than that I am also inclined to agree. He brings a certain element of unpredictability which was a breath of fresh air at a time where there was simply nothing happening in the team. But now that we have players who can operate in tight spaces and keep it tidy and at the same construct patterns of play he is more of a destructive element. Sure, he is a good player and will produce somehow but also to the detriment of the team as a whole.
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International football, especially for midfielders, can be somewhat of a myth. The spacing and cohesion of how teams set up is much looser because you obviously don’t have the time to work with the squad to drill it in, so a talented midfielder that tends to thrive more with time on the ball will look far better.

It’s one of the big reasons why Pogba looked untouchable for France for so long but might struggle against a well drilled Southampton team.

It also should be noted that the vast majority of international games for these top nations are played against crap opposition. The major tournaments only come around every 2 years.
 
He was so poor last night but ETHs favouritism towards him is really killing us.

A top manager should have substituted him around the 60 minute mark.

I genuinely think the next few games we should go for a midfield of Ugarte - Mainoo - Eriksen / Mount to at the very least show that no player is undroppable if their form is atrocious.
 
Prefer Eriksen and maybe even Mount at this point. He's a world class player that rarely plays a good match.
 
Jock Steins Boots said:
But that's just it, it shouldn't come down to something like a disciplinary issue, before ETH feels he can drop someone.

Right there is the problem.

Did Fergie ever need a disciplinary issue before he dropped a player? Not on your life.
It should only ever come down to performances. Their sole job is to play football, at the highest level, at all times. Sure, they can have the odd game where they are off, but not a whole run of games, which is what Bruno has had now.
How long do you give it before the age old quote of 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' kicks in?
I just don't understand what the problem is. Is it a fear that if United drop Bruno the team might play shit? As opposed to what? Playing shit with him in the team as he is right now?
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Exactly. And the one thing I will definitely give Bruno credit for is that he appears to be a good character, so I don't think he'd respond in the same was a Sancho or Rashford to being dropped (of course I could be totally wrong on that.)
 
crossy1686 said:
He looks absolutely knackered to be honest, he's carried us for the best part of 3 years and can't even get a break against Barnsley when we're 5-0 up.
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Has he really carried us these last 3 years? He was shit in the Rangnick season, pretty good in ETH's first season (although I'd argue that Casemiro and Rashford were more influential that season) and wildly inconsistent last season (a terrible season in which we finished 8th.) If he has carried us, then I'd argue that it's not been in a great direction.
 
M16Red said:
Brilliant. I sense a theme.

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This is not the De Gea thread, but do you disagree that he was top class between 2013 and 2018? Because if so, then I can't take your opinions seriously.

It was the right call to sell De Gea, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a sad day. You need to remember all the good that he did and not just the last years (which honestly weren't as bad as this place made it out to be, but that is a different discussion). And the same will be true for Bruno whether he leaves next year or in 2027. When that day comes he will join the very limited ranks of post Fergie players who actually had a long period of being top class. The list is now as follows:

- De Gea
- Bruno

That's it! I hope to see minimum 3 more players added to that list before Bruno leaves, but I'm not holding my breath. The post Fergie era has been brutal.
 
Resonance said:
Still think he's our most important player, when he's shit like now, we also tend to go on a poor run of results.
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That he is our most important player is a huge problem. He doesn’t give us anything we can rely upon or build a team on. How can we go from game to game banking upon a single moment of brilliance that may or may not come as our primary strategy? Far mire important what he does 20 times a game, every week, than what he might do once or twice every few games. The bar is too high, we need to win every game, so our A game needs to consist of a level that we are able to bring two or three games a week.
 
Resonance said:
Still think he's our most important player, when he's shit like now, we also tend to go on a poor run of results.
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If that is the case, it's perfect moment to phase him out of the team and look for a different solution. We can't rely on Bruno long term, this is destined to fail.

Not that I believe he's that important anyway.
 
Carried us in the past 3 years is crazy. He's carried us in his first year and a half, then has been wildly inconsistent ever since then. He's now 30, and likely will only get worse from here. And we've just given him a fat 300k contract a week.

We're a joke
 
jem said:
Has he really carried us these last 3 years? He was shit in the Rangnick season, pretty good in ETH's first season (although I'd argue that Casemiro and Rashford were more influential that season) and wildly inconsistent last season (a terrible season in which we finished 8th.) If he has carried us, then I'd argue that it's not been in a great direction.
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He's played almost every game without a rest and has been our biggest outlet.
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I'm inclined to agree. The initial pop he gave the team along with the absurd purple patch he went through convinced both the club and a huge majority of supporters that this was the guy to build the entire team around, even though you could see even at that time that he lacked some basic qualities that most top midfielders have in today's game. There's a reason he gets swamped out of the large majority of big games and has absolute shockers. Sure he's popped up with a big goal or assist in some of them and it's masked the bad overall play, but I can hardly think of one game against any top opposition where I've watched both sides and thought "Bruno is clearly the best player out there", which is something you'd expect from what's supposed to be this world class captain and the "best United signings ever post SAF". Honestly I think the best comparison is that he's the midfield version of Lukaku (good Lukaku). He'll get you numbers but ultimately lacks a few key attributes that are generally vital for his position especially technically, and it ends up costing the team against other top sides
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This is it.

The midfield version of Lukaku is painfully apt. There was a thread comparing Odegaard and Bruno some time ago. People thought the guys picking Odegaard were insane because Bruno was still putting up numbers. His numbers have never outweighed the negative impact his deficiencies have on the team.

Bruno will always put up better numbers but Odegaaard is a far superior footballer and a far far superior playmaker. I would have Odegaard ten out of ten times. There are essential qualities that a playmaker must have that Bruno doesn't and it kills the team. Aside from not having these qualities, his biggest flaw is his inability to manage the flow of a game. A team whose playmaker is the biggest source of turnovers is a team that is doomed.
 
I’d Lisandro Martinez to keep the ball under pressure 10 times out of 10. And he’s a defender. Not only is Bruno not a defender, he’s actually a number 10. Supposedly the most technically assured player in the team, however, we are in a situation where our 10 would do well to make our top 5 in that regard.
 
Scandi Red said:
This is not the De Gea thread, but do you disagree that he was top class between 2013 and 2018? Because if so, then I can't take your opinions seriously.

It was the right call to sell De Gea, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a sad day. You need to remember all the good that he did and not just the last years (which honestly weren't as bad as this place made it out to be, but that is a different discussion). And the same will be true for Bruno whether he leaves next year or in 2027. When that day comes he will join the very limited ranks of post Fergie players who actually had a long period of being top class. The list is now as follows:

- De Gea
- Bruno

That's it! I hope to see minimum 3 more players added to that list before Bruno leaves, but I'm not holding my breath. The post Fergie era has been brutal.
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I want to say Dalot but only when he gives us a run of, say, 10 games where he cuts out the stupid shit like that backheel in the first few minutes last night.
 
Manchester United were quickly dissuaded from pursuing Bruno Fernandes after it emerged the Portugal international gives the ball away too often.

United had run the rule over the Sporting Lisbon midfielder but Sportsmail understands that scouts felt his way of playing did not suit Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s style.

Solskjaer wants players reliable in possession — as seen with the pairing of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof at centre half — and there were concerns over Fernandes’ decision-making on the ball.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...-Fernandes-signing-midfielder-took-risks.html
The way he plays is not new.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I want to say Dalot but only when he gives us a run of, say, 10 games where he cuts out the stupid shit like that backheel in the first few minutes last night.
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I'd say I would rest that list in peace without ever talking about it again when those three names are on it. The first entry dented his own legacy with his last years (and I was a big fan of him), Bruno polarizes and Dalot had 1.5 good years. This list does more damage than praise. I can see its point, but it isn't an "who was the best between..." but more "who wasn't as bad as..."
 
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