Bruno Fernandes | New contract until 2027

Could and probably should have about 4 goals so far in the league.

Sort it out Bruno!
 
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jem said:
I cannot for the life of me understand why we gave him such a big raise - he's in his 30's, had years left on his contract, and wasn't exactly grossly underpaid. I'm confident about the new regime, but this was straight out of the Woodward/Arnold playbook.
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He got raised from £250k to £300k a week. It's not exactly a massive bump. Worth about £10M extra over the next 2 years.

The big thing is that third guaranteed year. It gives us more options to sell him next summer, but if he declines quickly could leaving us holding an overpaid contract.
Garethw said:
Nobody will pay his wages that he’s now on. We are stuck with him. We’ve just got to hope that he finds his form again as he ain’t going anywhere.
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We just moved Sancho who was on £250k a week. Bruno on £300k is moveable unless he declines a lot. Heck, Saudi would've been interested in Casemiro at £350k if he hadn't fallen off a cliff.
 
bb8 said:
He got raised from £250k to £300k a week. It's not exactly a massive bump. Worth about £10M extra over the next 2 years.

The big thing is that third guaranteed year. It gives us more options to sell him next summer, but if he declines quickly could leaving us holding an overpaid contract.

We just moved Sancho who was on £250k a week. Bruno on £300k is moveable unless he declines a lot. Heck, Saudi would've been interested in Casemiro at £350k if he hadn't fallen off a cliff.
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True, but still completely unnecessary, in my opinion, and will only make it that much harder to shift him if he declines quickly (which based on the start of this season, isn't some remote possibility.)
 
He's going to need to be better and smarter on the ball. His productivity should be the result of good decision-making rather than getting one great pass in every 10.

That first 45 minutes at the weekend was one of the best possession based performances in years for me. We couldn't sustain it and players need to play a bit smarter
 
jem said:
True, but still completely unnecessary, in my opinion, and will only make it that much harder to shift him if he declines quickly (which based on the start of this season, isn't some remote possibility.)
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Yeah, his start has been a bit concerning. Still only a few games though; I wouldn't hit the panic button just yet.
 
Yakuza_devils said:
He will be world class in the next game. This is how Bruno has always been, inconsistent. He can be shit in one game and the next game world class. Herein lies the problem, this cause Man Utd to be inconsistent too. Hence, we need a consistent world class creative player to lift Man Utd to City or Arsenal level. Bruno is not the answer.
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Who is that world class creative player?
 
He’s basically got to strip it back and simplify his game. If he does this he’d of had goals and assists this season and we’d be further up in the league table. It’s all fine margins.
 
Who actually signed this off?

He should have been sold instead. We've been taken for mugs yet again.
 
I honestly feel like his heart hasn’t been in it for a couple of years now, the pronouncements he makes about the club seem like lip service.

I think he knows he fecked up sticking with a sinking ship.
 
sugar_kane said:
I honestly feel like his heart hasn’t been in it for a couple of years now, the pronouncements he makes about the club seem like lip service.

I think he knows he fecked up sticking with a sinking ship.
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Sticking with? He’s not going to have it better elsewhere. His heart is there, the quality is lacking.
 
We keep buying players like Zirkzee and Mount who we then have to play out of position to shoehorn them around Bruno when they will only really be at their best playing instead of Bruno.
 
lsd said:
We keep buying players like Zirkzee and Mount who we then have to play out of position to shoehorn them around Bruno when they will only really be at their best playing instead of Bruno.
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This. A thousand times, this.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Sticking with? He’s not going to have it better elsewhere. His heart is there, the quality is lacking.
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Absolutely. I don't buy for a second that he had loads of top quality options in Europe this summer as his team filtered to the press. Certainly not at the wages he's getting at United. He has world class matches but more often than not he is below par. And he affects the team too much when he's not close to his best, which is often.
 
I couldn't buy into the idea he was a problem when we had so many other obvious deficiencies in the side, but as we slowly improve the foundations it's becoming increasingly clear that we'll need an upgrade.

I'm not bundling him into the same category as Rashford who is downright poor / useless but Bruno is the same type of high risk, high reward, chaos-inducing footballer.

Problem is his decision-making is very poor. He's got talent and he takes risks, which CAN be a good thing...but he's completely unable to distinguish between a calculated risk worth taking and downright recklessness.

Case in point, he's been at the club how many seasons now...6? How many times has he tried that little chipped ball over a static back four into the CF? Seems like about twice a game. How many times has it worked? I can't remember one.

I'm not saying we remove him and we magically improve because he has qualities, but I'd like to see Mount given a run of two or three games behind Zirkzee with Amad and Garnacho wide. That's a front four who can all retain and move the ball.
 
Bastian said:
Absolutely. I don't buy for a second that he had loads of top quality options in Europe this summer as his team filtered to the press. Certainly not at the wages he's getting at United. He has world class matches but more often than not he is below par. And he affects the team too much when he's not close to his best, which is often.
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When we bought him, was there any other teams after him? He was brilliant that first season and a half and waned slowly. Was that due to other teams learning how to play him? We were a pure counter attacking direct team then and this suited his game as well. (If he hadnt have fecked up ) Greenwood suited his over the top balls well and Martial and Rashford all clicked in that time as well.
 
wolvored said:
When we bought him, was there any other teams after him?
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I mean, our own scouts advised against signing him - for the very same reasons we're complaining in this thread, mind - the only other team I recall being linked to/interested in him at the time was Spurs, and they seemingly didn't make a concrete move either
 
lsd said:
We keep buying players like Zirkzee and Mount who we then have to play out of position to shoehorn them around Bruno when they will only really be at their best playing instead of Bruno.
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It's weird I agree
 
Lentwood said:
I couldn't buy into the idea he was a problem when we had so many other obvious deficiencies in the side, but as we slowly improve the foundations it's becoming increasingly clear that we'll need an upgrade.

I'm not bundling him into the same category as Rashford who is downright poor / useless but Bruno is the same type of high risk, high reward, chaos-inducing footballer.

Problem is his decision-making is very poor. He's got talent and he takes risks, which CAN be a good thing...but he's completely unable to distinguish between a calculated risk worth taking and downright recklessness.

Case in point, he's been at the club how many seasons now...6? How many times has he tried that little chipped ball over a static back four into the CF? Seems like about twice a game. How many times has it worked? I can't remember one.

I'm not saying we remove him and we magically improve because he has qualities, but I'd like to see Mount given a run of two or three games behind Zirkzee with Amad and Garnacho wide. That's a front four who can all retain and move the ball.
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I've said this about him so many times, if he played with a bit more composure he could pick and choose his passing moments better and still end up with the same output in terms of goals and assists.
 
Lentwood said:
I couldn't buy into the idea he was a problem when we had so many other obvious deficiencies in the side, but as we slowly improve the foundations it's becoming increasingly clear that we'll need an upgrade.

I'm not bundling him into the same category as Rashford who is downright poor / useless but Bruno is the same type of high risk, high reward, chaos-inducing footballer.

Problem is his decision-making is very poor. He's got talent and he takes risks, which CAN be a good thing...but he's completely unable to distinguish between a calculated risk worth taking and downright recklessness.

Case in point, he's been at the club how many seasons now...6? How many times has he tried that little chipped ball over a static back four into the CF? Seems like about twice a game. How many times has it worked? I can't remember one.

I'm not saying we remove him and we magically improve because he has qualities, but I'd like to see Mount given a run of two or three games behind Zirkzee with Amad and Garnacho wide. That's a front four who can all retain and move the ball.
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100% agree, I'd love to see Mount given an extended run in place of Fernandes. I'm certain he would not disappoint.
 
sugar_kane said:
I honestly feel like his heart hasn’t been in it for a couple of years now, the pronouncements he makes about the club seem like lip service.

I think he knows he fecked up sticking with a sinking ship.
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Where were the offers?
 
Although Ten Hag successfully took on Ronaldo, Sancho and to a degree Rashford the Bruno situation is much trickier as he's not causing problems off the pitch or on the training ground. In that sense it was 'easy' for Ten Hag to take on the others whatever their profile.

He has to be dropped though, new contract or not. He's been fecking dreadful, and the worst part is I think I don't think his overall style suits the team at all.
 
sugar_kane said:
I honestly feel like his heart hasn’t been in it for a couple of years now, the pronouncements he makes about the club seem like lip service.

I think he knows he fecked up sticking with a sinking ship.
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Maybe, but he is a very large part of why we are sinking in the first place.
 
Like a few others he had a great season in 2020 - 21 playing in empty stadiums, his stats fell off after Ronaldo rejoined the club and never recovered.

There are still flashes of genius there, the odd perfectly weighted pass, but they are becoming rarer and rarer. He's just wasteful and looses the ball too much. I don't mind players taking risks, but the output has got to justify it. At this point with Bruno, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. club captain or not, he needs a spell out of the team right now.
 
He needs to be dropped until he finds his form. We have now sufficient options in the midfield/ CAM, hope the manager utilises them, instead of hanging his hat on ‘playing Bruno into form’.

I am still a big admirer of his qualities as a player btw. However, this team can’t afford to carry anyone and that should be the principle for team selection.
 
It’s time for United to be decisive with a 4 stage plan.

Stage one;
Ashworth, Wilcox and Berrada call ETH into the office and tell him he has 7 games to save his job. That’s Spurs(H), Porto(A), Villa(A), Brentford(H), Fernebeche(A), West Ham(A), Leicester(H)
Which is 4 PL games, 2 EL matches, 1 Carabo cups. He needs 8-9 points form 4 EPL, 4 points from 2 EL games, and a convincing win against Leicester in carabo cup so we need 5 wins from the next 7 games. ETH needs to be shown the relative financial budgets of theses teams and then shown how his players salaries and his own salary dwarves these teams.

Stage two;
The goal scoring problem needs to be top of his training agenda right now, it’s quite clear for everyone to see we simply don’t get enough bodies in the opposition penalty area , he needs to pick his best attacking unit and work night and day to give them confidence and start scoring goals, right now as much as I love Amad and Garnaucho, both should start on the bench and come from the bench, I’d like to see a 4312 formation with Zirkzee as the 10 and Rasmus coming narrow from the right and Rashford coming narrow from the left basically allows our two quickest strikers to offer a direct threat in between CB and Full backs.

Stage 3
He needs to Decide on the midfield structure and stick to it, it’s clear that Dalot likes to invert from the left back and Bruno is currently stinking the place out so he needs to be dropped. Eriksen is playing well enough right now to start, add Kobbie and Ugarte and this might be the best option, with Mason Mount replacing Eriksen and In some games playing Casemiro, Ugarte and Kobbie to have a really solid mobile unit.
With Zirkzee also dropping deep the team almost becomes a 352 formation in possession.

Stage 4
If ETH can’t implement the necessary improvements within the next 7 games, he simply must be sacked and the club give RVN the chance to Xmas to prove he’s the right man to take us forward while we access the managerial market, I say this with the caveat that should he lose 2 of the next three games, then he should be sacked immediately after the Villa match before the international break.
 
I cannot believe there is some people attributing his contract to his form. Do they even watch us play?

Yes, he’s not great at the moment, but not through lack of effort. The guy runs himself into the ground every single game. He’s a winner. I don’t think money would have influence, at all, on his mentality.

He’s just out of form. Simple as that.
 
Describing Bruno as a winner... That's a new one. Hard worker would be more apt.

The issue with Bruno has never been his work rate. It's his lack of quality in crucial areas, mainly ball retention, press resistance, positional awareness without the ball, and lack of coordination and discipline in an effective press. Add in the fact that he can't dribble past an opponent, and you're left with a very limited footballer.
 
Lentwood said:
I couldn't buy into the idea he was a problem when we had so many other obvious deficiencies in the side, but as we slowly improve the foundations it's becoming increasingly clear that we'll need an upgrade.

I'm not bundling him into the same category as Rashford who is downright poor / useless but Bruno is the same type of high risk, high reward, chaos-inducing footballer.

Problem is his decision-making is very poor. He's got talent and he takes risks, which CAN be a good thing...but he's completely unable to distinguish between a calculated risk worth taking and downright recklessness.

Case in point, he's been at the club how many seasons now...6? How many times has he tried that little chipped ball over a static back four into the CF? Seems like about twice a game. How many times has it worked? I can't remember one.

I'm not saying we remove him and we magically improve because he has qualities, but I'd like to see Mount given a run of two or three games behind Zirkzee with Amad and Garnacho wide. That's a front four who can all retain and move the ball.
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I agree. Right now our main attackers include 3 players that don't know when to retain the ball and when to take chances. I'm talking about Bruno, Rashford and to a lesser extent Rasmus. Rashford has never been a good team player. Bruno right now is terrible. Rasmus I'm not sure about but Zirkzee is a much better passer. I would love to see the 4 you mentioned get a good run. That would be a nice fluid attack and good with possession.
 
I just think he's needs a rest for a couple of games, he's playing too much, it won't happen unfortunately. If he was rotated like everyone else it would make a huge difference. He's burnt out.
 
Leethal said:
I cannot believe there is some people attributing his contract to his form. Do they even watch us play?

Yes, he’s not great at the moment, but not through lack of effort. The guy runs himself into the ground every single game. He’s a winner. I don’t think money would have influence, at all, on his mentality.

He’s just out of form. Simple as that.
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I don't attribute his form to the contract (unlike Rashford, for example.) I just think it was madness to give such a contract to a 30-year-old player who will likely never find a vein of consistent form.
 
jem said:
I don't attribute his form to the contract (unlike Rashford, for example.) I just think it was madness to give such a contract to a 30-year-old player who will likely never find a vein of consistent form.
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Don’t disagree with that. My post was aimed at those that somehow think giving him a contract contributed to his lack of form. Which is mental.
 
The problem with the Mount instead of Bruno shouts is….Mount can’t stay fit for more than a few matches.
 
Yakuza_devils said:
He will be world class in the next game. This is how Bruno has always been, inconsistent. He can be shit in one game and the next game world class. Herein lies the problem, this cause Man Utd to be inconsistent too. Hence, we need a consistent world class creative player to lift Man Utd to City or Arsenal level. Bruno is not the answer.
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Wanting to replace Bruno with a "creative" player?
 
Leethal said:
Don’t disagree with that. My post was aimed at those that somehow think giving him a contract contributed to his lack of form. Which is mental.
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Yeah it is mental. For all his faults, workrate has never been an issue with Bruno.
 
hobbers said:
And also that even at his best Mount was just prime Lingard in a Chelsea kit.
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Don't disagree. But if Eriksen is playing then at this point keeping discipline is more important and I believe Mount can bring that.
 
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