Bruno Fernandes | Signed

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BluesJr said:
He isn’t covering those players he’s a Lingard replacement. We need a competent no.10 and we have a long standing interest which we are acting on. It’s anything but a panic buy.
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This.

manunited1919 said:
No, if we buy Bruno he should be first choice for #10. But our current crisis is not at #10, where Pereira is adequate cover. The problem is we don’t have cover for McT and Pogba. Fred has been playing every single game, Matic’s legs are gone, and Pereira has been terrible when played in McT’s position. We have no plan B for injuries in midfield, and sorely miss Herrera and even Fellaini. So would Bruno be good in the McT position and be able to hit the ground running in the EPL?
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Maybe we wouldn't have been in for him until summer if all of our other midfielders were fit but look how we've struggled to break through tight defences, check the matchday discussions about our lack of penetration. Penetration is this fellas middle name. With him in as our 10 I would expect our chance creation to rise almost immediately.

PLaying Bruno in McT's position would be a terrible waste. I'd rather play Perreira there if necessary. Whether he'll hit the ground running or not, no one will know until he kicks a ball (if he comes) but either way he will be an instant upgrade on what we have currently.

DDG
AWB - Lindelof - Maguire - Williams
McT - Pogba
James - Bruno - Rashford
Martial
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... is looking a decent team if you ask me.
 
manunited1919 said:
I do agree we need both. But our most dire need is a box-to-box or a CDM to partner Fred and perhaps allow him a rest before he gets an injury too and we are totally fecked.
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Not sure I agree, Matic is doing much better than any of our 10s, swings and roundabouts though because we need both
 
BluesJr said:
He isn’t covering those players he’s a Lingard replacement. We need a competent no.10 and we have a long standing interest which we are acting on. It’s anything but a panic buy.
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That’s my take on it too, I think lingard has had his chances now and patience has run out and secondly sporting want to sell now so it’s created an opportunity. It’s not a panic as in we’re just buying anyone, he’s been extensively scouted. It may be classed as a panic from the POV that we have so many midfielders out
 
Bestietom said:
This deal won't be done until after Friday's game against Benfica.
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Why would they risk £60m plus for a derby match? If he gets injured the deal is off and they need the money. It's Ed not getting the deal over the line again.
 
Volumiza said:
This.



Maybe we wouldn't have been in for him until summer if all of our other midfielders were fit but look how we've struggled to break through tight defences, check the matchday discussions about our lack of penetration. Penetration is this fellas middle name. With him in as our 10 I would expect our chance creation to rise almost immediately.

PLaying Bruno in McT's position would be a terrible waste. I'd rather play Perreira there if necessary. Whether he'll hit the ground running or not, no one will know until he kicks a ball (if he comes) but either way he will be an instant upgrade on what we have currently.

DDG
AWB - Lindelof - Maguire - Williams
McT - Pogba
James - Bruno - Rashford
Martial
​
... is looking a decent team if you ask me.
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Jadon Sancho at RW and a better CB than Lindelof I would be very happy with that side.
 
dirkey said:
He was phenomenally talented. But do you honestly think with the drinking and womanising, his body would have allowed him to do what he did then, with the levels of fitness etc?
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Is that really the point you were making?

I'm not convinced it was but, on that point we don't know if it would have been such an issue do we?

In this day and age he'd likely be more protected and have more support around him so may not have ended up the same way.

Although I'm not sure why you think womanising would affect his performances. Giggsy seems to have been ok!
 
Withnail said:
Is that really the point you were making?

I'm not convinced it was but, on that point we don't know if it would have been such an issue do we?

In this day and age he'd likely be more protected and have more support around him so may not have ended up the same way.

Although I'm not sure why you think womanising would affect his performances. Giggsy seems to have been ok!
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Haha, true, maybe not the womanising.

It was the point though. If you look at the conversation, I mentioned comparing apples and oranges, as the other poster talked about how the premier league was totally different now. And it is, lot more science, people way fitter, faster. I don't think you can compare players through eras, which is what that poster was doing when he said Bruce wouldn't cut it in this day and age.
 
BluesJr said:
He isn’t covering those players he’s a Lingard replacement. We need a competent no.10 and we have a long standing interest which we are acting on. It’s anything but a panic buy.
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Well that has flummoxed me a bit, I'd incorrectly assumed we were looking for midfield reinforcements, not No.10's and thought this guy was a No.8. This would make sense though as we have form for addressing lower priority positions in January over actual clear and present needs. See Sanchez's transfer.
 
dirkey said:
Haha, true, maybe not the womanising.

It was the point though. If you look at the conversation, I mentioned comparing apples and oranges, as the other poster talked about how the premier league was totally different now. And it is, lot more science, people way fitter, faster. I don't think you can compare players through eras, which is what that poster was doing when he said Bruce wouldn't cut it in this day and age.
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Yeah I get the comparisons don't make a huge amount of sense as things have moved on.

To me though if they could do it then they could do it now as they'd all be fitter too especially someone as insanely talented as Best.
 
RedNed77 said:
Well that has flummoxed me a bit, I'd incorrectly assumed we were looking for midfield reinforcements, not No.10's and thought this guy was a No.8. This would make sense though as we have form for addressing lower priority positions in January over actual clear and present needs. See Sanchez's transfer.
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You're currently happy with our lack of creativity and don't think it needs to be addressed asap?
 
RedNed77 said:
Well that has flummoxed me a bit, I'd incorrectly assumed we were looking for midfield reinforcements, not No.10's and thought this guy was a No.8. This would make sense though as we have form for addressing lower priority positions in January over actual clear and present needs. See Sanchez's transfer.
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Our attacking lack of creativity is just a big need as a centre midfielder.
 
RedNed77 said:
Well that has flummoxed me a bit, I'd incorrectly assumed we were looking for midfield reinforcements, not No.10's and thought this guy was a No.8. This would make sense though as we have form for addressing lower priority positions in January over actual clear and present needs. See Sanchez's transfer.
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We need both, #10 is a good start though as it's far and away our weakest position. Centre midfield needs to be reinforced for depth so I can see why a #10 takes priority, Matic, McTominay, Pogba and Fred can all play as deeper CMs, we've only really got Mata, Lingard and Pereira as natural #10s so it's pretty obvious we need a starting 11 upgrade there. It's nothing like the Sanchez transfer.
 
manunited1919 said:
But our current crisis is not at #10
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Kind of is, though.

If we could field a player at #10 in Ole's variation on the 4-2-3-1 theme who actually provides both creativity and productivity (as it were - goals, I mean) from the proverbial hole regularly - we'd be in a much better position to grab points against "lesser" teams (i.e. teams that don't allow us to sit back and punish them on the counter).

If that player was a set-piece specialist on top of everything else - then yeah, that'd sound pretty good to me, especially if he was still young and didn't cost an arm and a leg (relatively speaking).

ETA And if he was a player with some defensive awareness, whose game involved him dropping down when appropriate, I'd be even more happy.
 
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Judas said:
You're currently happy with our lack of creativity and don't think it needs to be addressed asap?
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I think the problems are more complex than that. I spent most of the game on Saturday watching our current number 9 stroll around and not make any runs whatsoever, something most of the other fans around me in the ground noticed too. Its all well and good having a player who can pick a pass like Bruno (Mata can do that too) but if nobody is making runs for somebody to make a pass to, its irrelevant. Yes, its something that needs to be addressed, but its not as easy a fix as getting some players in who are capable of putting in a regular 7 out of 10 in midfield week in week out, a decent one will also provide creativity which is what i assumed we were looking at Bruno for, somebody who will put in a shift and can create too. But apparently this isnt what he does.

The issue I was hoping we'd address is that we have 3 central midfielders in McT, Fred and Matic. McTominay is out for god knows how long, Fred is being ran into the ground and Matic is 1 good game every 4. Yes, Pogba can play in central midfield, but apparently he needs a particular set of players and a specific setup for that to work or he's a 1 in 3 player too.
 
Bestietom said:
This deal won't be done until after Friday's game against Benfica.
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Benfica is 16 points ahead of Sporting. It makes absolute no sense for him to play an intense match against us since it won't change anything in their classification whether they win or lose.
 
Benfica_1904 said:
Benfica is 16 points ahead of Sporting. It makes absolute no sense for him to play an intense match against us since it won't change anything in their classification whether they win or lose.
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Liverpool are 27 or so ahead of us, but we still want to beat them.
 
RedNed77 said:
Well that has flummoxed me a bit, I'd incorrectly assumed we were looking for midfield reinforcements, not No.10's and thought this guy was a No.8. This would make sense though as we have form for addressing lower priority positions in January over actual clear and present needs. See Sanchez's transfer.
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I don’t think there’s much doubt we are looking to strengthen with a CM, a no 10, a RW and a striker. LB originally too, but Williams had put that position down the pecking order. A CB quite possibly too, depending maybe on the development of Tuanzebe and Bailly.

The list of priority I don’t know, but looking at the positions, me, I’d range them like this:

1. No 10: Pereira 5, Lingard 4, Mata 4 (Sanchez 4)
2. RW: James 6 (my 1-10 valuation of his current capability in this position) Greenwood 5, Mata 4, Pereira 4.
3. CM: Pogba 8, McTom 6, Fred 6, Matic 5
4. Striker: Martial 7, Rashford 7, Greenwood 6
5. CB: Maguire 7, Lindelöf 7, Tuanzebe 6, Bailly 6, (Smalling 6), Rojo 5, Jones 4

From my POV, we have slightly more depth at No 10 and RW than CM and striker, but a lot less quality. At this point, with Pog and Tom injured, it’s easy to get jittery, but I think it makes more sense seeing which of these positions can aqtually be strengthened A long term B in this window C adressing pressing needs, and then D wait until summer with the rest.

Bruno it seems would fit this bill. I am
Not sure anyone else will. Haaland did, but he chose the Dortmund path.
 
Ban said:
Cue the panic buy moaning.
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I agree. So lets have a look what Ole wants

a- Is he a leader? Check
b- Is he hardworking? Check
c- Is he talented? Check
d- Is he young? Check
e- Is he versatile? Check

We scouted this guy for a year now. He's no panic buy.
 
Grande said:
I don’t think there’s much doubt we are looking to strengthen with a CM, a no 10, a RW and a striker. LB originally too, but Williams had put that position down the pecking order. A CB quite possibly too, depending maybe on the development of Tuanzebe and Bailly.

The list of priority I don’t know, but looking at the positions, me, I’d range them like this:

1. No 10: Pereira 5, Lingard 4, Mata 4 (Sanchez 4)
2. RW: James 6 (my 1-10 valuation of his current capability in this position) Greenwood 5, Mata 4, Pereira 4.
3. CM: Pogba 8, McTom 6, Fred 6, Matic 5
4. Striker: Martial 7, Rashford 7, Greenwood 6
5. CB: Maguire 7, Lindelöf 7, Tuanzebe 6, Bailly 6, (Smalling 6), Rojo 5, Jones 4

From my POV, we have slightly more depth at No 10 and RW than CM and striker, but a lot less quality. At this point, with Pog and Tom injured, it’s easy to get jittery, but I think it makes more sense seeing which of these positions can aqtually be strengthened A long term B in this window C adressing pressing needs, and then D wait until summer with the rest.

Bruno it seems would fit this bill. I am
Not sure anyone else will. Haaland did, but he chose the Dortmund path.
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We have no depth at No. 10 because Lingard does not count and Mata is only good against certain types of teams. Pereira depends which Pereira turns up on that day.
 
Josep Dowling said:
Jadon Sancho at RW and a better CB than Lindelof I would be very happy with that side.
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I think the club needs to upgrade from McTom as well. Good young squad player, but he’s too inconsistent to be counted on as a starter right now imo. Add Bruno, Sancho, and upgrade from Lindelof and McTom, and the starting unit can compete.
 
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