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2024-25 Performances

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5.5 Season Average Rating
Appearances
25
Goals
5
Assists
11
Yellow cards
4
Red cards
2
He was our most dangerous player but I would be worried if I was him. There is no natural role for him in this setup. He's not really a wide playmaker in this system because it requires players who can dribble and progress with the ball. He's also not a CM so don't see him there unless it's a situation like today where we are chasing points.

His importance to the team has always been built on his ability to pull off great passes but it seems Amorim is trying to create a team system that does this rather than having one creative hub which Bruno has been for most of his time here.
 
If that quote from Amorim is true then it's some much welcomed vindication from us lot who have been saying the same thing for years. He spams passes all the time. It's great to have a manager who recognises that. He'll look nowhere near as good if he's made to rein that part of him in, not that I think he's looked particularly good for the past few years anyway. He gets a lot of "chances created" because he spams those sorts of passes even when there are better options
 
3KDré said:
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Pff. Only proves, that Amorim hates him or is on an agenda already. He really has to learn, that Bruno has no natural tendencies and only does what he is instructed to do, so jokes on himself, if the player didn't as good as he wanted then because his instructions weren't on point.

just give it a few hours and Statman Dave will come up with a tweet to prove that
 
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Can't say I have much faith in him adapting his game. We'll be looking for a new manager 3 years from now if Amorim keeps him as the main man and everything we do continues to run through him.
 
Really good passing today, can think of at least 3 occasions where his through balls put Garnacho in empty space with perfectly weighted passes.

He can't play as one of the 10s effectively, though, he doesn't have the attributes for it. Maybe moving him deeper could work more effectively
 
The most disciplined I’ve seen him play in a Utd shirt since Ole. Much more like his Portugal NT displays.

Less influential overall, though.
 
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Who's Kissing Cameras? said:
The most disciplined I’ve seen him play in a Utd search since Ole. Much more like his Portugal NT displays.

Less influential overall, though.
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That is the natural drawback when you have an actual star in a poor team. Discipline, ball retention and intelligent play is almost useless when it comes down to the individual. You need a whole team doing this. Bruno can obviously keep things simple and be a nice little cog in a machine. But he's also our most productive and creative player. One of our very few. Giving him less freedom can prove a steep price to pay, but time will tell.

I'm curious about what Amorim decides to do if we go on a very poor run in January or something. Will he abandon his principles and give Bruno more freedom or will he stick to his guns?

I think Amad and Mainoo can combine well with Bruno. So can veterans like Casemiro and Eriksen, no doubt. But I'm not too sure about the rest of our attackers and midfielders...
 
Won't compete for anything major with him in the team and I'll die on that hill.
 
Scandi Red said:
That is the natural drawback when you have an actual star in a poor team. Discipline, ball retention and intelligent play is almost useless when it comes down to the individual. You need a whole team doing this. Bruno can obviously keep things simple and be a nice little cog in a machine. But he's also our most productive and creative player. One of our very few. Giving him less freedom can prove a steep price to pay, but time will tell.

I'm curious about what Amorim decides to do if we go on a very poor run in January or something. Will he abandon his principles and give Bruno more freedom or will he stick to his guns?

I think Amad and Mainoo can combine well with Bruno. So can veterans like Casemiro and Eriksen, no doubt. But I'm not too sure about the rest of our attackers and midfielders...
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Obviously...

I hope Amorim rather changes his role description of the 10 position than placing Bruno in CM as I can't believe it is going to work. Also wasn't there talk, that this guy Trincao from Sporting was also more of a passer type than a dribbler? If thats the case, it can't be that much of a challenge to adjust to Bruno
 
Bruno Hollywood!

If Stevie G was Portuguese, somehow more petulant and didn't have as much strength.
 
Insanity said:
Bruno Hollywood!

If Stevie G was Portuguese, somehow more petulant and didn't have as much strength.
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I've been saying it for a while now. He's our Gerrard. Hero ball in an ineffective team.
 
Like everyone, he has to look after the ball better, I saw less idiotic flicks and rushed balls yesterday, but they're still there. If Amorim can calm him down, hopefully he'll have a big useful role.

He's always got a picture of what he wants to do, but so often the pass is way off or his teammates aren't on his wavelength at all.
 
A team with him as the heartbeat will never take care of a ball.
Like many of our players over the years, he’s not as good as we think he is. Despite his numbers, there are a host of players I’d take ahead of him.
 
Amorim clearly said “we can’t lose the ball so soon after we get it back”. That is the exact opposite of counter attacking football. Bruno played well yesterday but he only excels in transition football.

I hope Amorim tries to play without him and sees what we all have been pointing out for years
 
statpadder said:
Amorim clearly said “we can’t lose the ball so soon after we get it back”. That is the exact opposite of counter attacking football. Bruno played well yesterday but he only excels in transition football.

I hope Amorim tries to play without him and sees what we all have been pointing out for years
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That we're a much worse team without Bruno?
 
hellhunter said:
That we're a much worse team without Bruno?
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If we get an upgrade then we will be a better team without Bruno. I know it's a cliche but continuous dependency on underperforming players need not be there. At some point club like United start a transition plan.
 
Tony247 said:
If we get an upgrade then we will be a better team without Bruno. I know it's a cliche but continuous dependency on underperforming players need not be there. At some point club like United start a transition plan.
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We have nowhere close to enough money to buy an upgrade on Bruno
 
He played really well and will continue to be the main guy playing pretty much every minute for us as he's a quality player. The question marks are everyone around him I'd say. How he was used yesterday was exactly how I think he'll continue to be used... Partially as a 10, partially as a midfielder, and just rotating between the 2 positions depending on game state.
 
He is really poor on the half-turn, it's a major weakness in his game. He'd be the best midfielder in the world if he wasn't as he's pretty good at everything else.
 
Bruno missed 4 passes yesterday.
And turnover (meaning balls lost or dispossessed) only 14%, which is an objectively very good percentage for an attacking midfielder.

It’s funny to see how narratives can be so easily pushed
 
Zed is not dead said:
Bruno missed 4 passes yesterday.
And turnover (meaning balls lost or dispossessed) only 14%, which is an objectively very good percentage for an attacking midfielder.

It’s funny to see how narratives can be so easily pushed
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Yeah he wasn't at his best but the problems yesterday were Casemiro, Eriksen and Evans being outfought and overwhelmed by the energy of Ipswich. If that midfield double pivot can't get control of the game we get performances and results like the one yesterday.
 
Blood Mage said:
Yeah he wasn't at his best but the problems yesterday were Casemiro, Eriksen and Evans being outfought and overwhelmed by the energy of Ipswich. If that midfield double pivot can't get control of the game we get performances and results like the one yesterday.
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Not at his best ? He had the best passing stats of the whole team and had generally great stats for a midfielder.
 
Zed is not dead said:
Not at his best ? He had the best passing stats of the whole team and had generally great stats for a midfielder.
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At his best he is a monster. I don't think he was that yesterday, but was good enough for me. He did mess up a couple of easy passes when we were counter attacking which should have been relatively avoidable if he had spent a second longer to control the ball. I think him at his best would have offered a great deal more than what he did, but it is quite obvious we need new attackers to get the most out of him.
 
hellhunter said:
We have nowhere close to enough money to buy an upgrade on Bruno
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Enough has been said about a continuation plan but we really have to make sure, we aren't building around players who aren't going to be mainstays due to age.
Grand Vizier said:
At his best he is a monster. I don't think he was that yesterday, but was good enough for me. He did mess up a couple of easy passes when we were counter attacking which should have been relatively avoidable if he had spent a second longer to control the ball. I think him at his best would have offered a great deal more than what he did, but it is quite obvious we need new attackers to get the most out of him.
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That shouldn't be the objective though. We have to put the collective at the forefront and make sure that we have the most ideal profiles to fit the managers intended plan. When that means bringing in players who fit Brunos style, my heart breaks but so be it. When that means we look for more modern player profiles for the position, so be it. I strongly tend to option b, considering age and Bruno skillset, which, even when at his best, might be difficult to integrate into a modern team. He is too weak and too weak on the ball in tight spaces which may make life difficult for him in Amorims system. And I simply don't see him transitioning into something like Scholes, he is too impulsive for that I guess. As long as fitness levels are what they are and we won't play a real pressing system and keep it a little deeper, Bruno is fine to play balls in behind. After that, who knows.
 
He'd been good and more structured under RVN, when Ugarte and Case were able to offer protection and good enough for midfield battle. With Case and Eriksen were outfought, Bruno was forced to drop deeper to help. Then Garnacho and Rashford are not a playmaking type to pass to, but prefer to chase the ball forward. The ball was hardly able to stick up-front for a 10 to come into play from deeper position. And worth to mention, Rashford and Garnacho played like Championship players yesterday. It's hard for any 10 to work with.

According to whoscored, Bruno only played 7 long balls, with 5 successful ones. With passing rate 92%. He didn't play that many LB, considering he played 90+ minutes. While Onana and Maz had 10 LB each (way more), with Onana has 0 successful LB, and Maz is a RCB. Didn't hear Amorim or above posters complained about the later two though.
 
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Isotope said:
He'd been good and more structured under RVN, when Ugarte and Case were able to offer protection and good enough for midfield battle. With Case and Eriksen were outfought, Bruno was forced to drop deeper to help. Then Garnacho and Rashford are not a playmaking type to pass to, but prefer to chase the ball forward. The ball was hardly able to stick up-front for a 10 to come into play from deeper position. And worth to mention, Rashford and Garnacho played like Championship players yesterday. It's hard for any 10 to work with.

According to whoscored, Bruno only played 7 long balls, with 5 successful ones. With passing rate 92%. He didn't play that many LB, considering he played 90+ minutes. While Onana and Maz had 10 LB each (way more), with Onana has 0 successful LB, and Maz is a RCB. Didn't hear Amorim or above posters complained about the later two though.
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I really like that Hojlund never plays long ball.
 
If Amorim thought that was Bruno being wasteful he’s in for a shock because that was a very cautious display from him and we’ve seen him give the ball away far more. I echo the sentiment in here that he largely played quite well. Some fantastic long passes to release counters.
 
I think he has to play in the deeper two midfield positions, because we need players higher up the park who can dribble and beat a man with a bit of pace.
 
Bwuk said:
I think he has to play in the deeper two midfield positions, because we need players higher up the park who can dribble and beat a man with a bit of pace.
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I don't think he has the discipline to play that position. It's okay if it's late in a game we are chasing with 6 attacking players on the pitch. It'll not work right from the start. It'll fail like the Rooney in the midfield experiment. Rooney could make a long pass and folks thought that'll help him seamlessly slot into the midfield once he got older. However, it doesn't work like that. You need more than a long pass to play central midfield. Bruno is not good in tight spaces, his short passing is not impeccable, he can be pressed out of a game, he is a low percentage passer which would be more dangerous in a deeper role, he cannot dribble. We'll be constantly under pressure if he is played in the midfield.

Mainoo, although I would like to see him played as an AM, is much more suited to play the deeper midfield role than Bruno.
 
Insanity said:
he is a low percentage passer which would be more dangerous in a deeper role
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This is a myth. Bruno's passing is very good when you take his difficult/risky passes and set pieces out of the equation. Hell, even with those two it's not that bad. People act as if every CM must have more than 90% pass accuracy, but this is not true.
 
Bwuk said:
I think he has to play in the deeper two midfield positions, because we need players higher up the park who can dribble and beat a man with a bit of pace.
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Those roles have a big defensive responsibility. He'd be able to start counter attacks from deep but I don't think it suits him there. I'd leave him in the no.10 role until someone proves to be more capable. IMO Amad deserves one of those spots, but I don't think anyone else can claim the other role over Bruno at the moment.
 
While we're on the topic: has it been established that Amorim wants both of his two AMs to be able to dribble? Or is this just a made up problem created on this forum?
 
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