If you pull this off during training or a Sunday league match, it'd already be so impressive but during a final ? Truly incredible assist
Fernandes Vs De Bruyne
- Thread starter Jacky Quacky
- Start date
There is no contest at all, christ winning one game really has deluded some people
Fernandes has created more chances than De Bruyne every season he's been in the PL. In fact he's created more chances than anybody since he came to the PL.
If Fernandes played for City for the last 4 years and De Bruyne played for United you'd probably be saying people are deluded for comparing De Bruyne to Fernandes and throwing in a laughy face
It was class.
Even more so because our players tend to be greedy/shoot as soon as it's on so we're a bit confused when one chooses a sensible pass versus glory for themselves.
Covid Bruno had 18 PL goals and 11 PL assists… I don’t think KdB has beaten either of those?
Bruno for City would have assists and goals coming out of his ears.
KdB would have grey hair.
The pass for Mainoo is one of those where you have to imagine it went terribly wrong, simply intercepted by walker for example. He probably just had time to get a shot away himself, though mainoo was in the better position. A touch and pass would have taken too long. The confidence to pull it off, knowing how much abuse he'd get for fecking up a big chance like that, is what makes fernandes a special player.
The only reason Bruno creates more is because he plays much more minutes. He plays almost 1000 minutes more in the Premier League every season, that's around one-third of a season. If you look at per 90, you will see that De Bruyne is far, far more effective in each and every season since Bruno joined. Take a look at this season, for instance. Bruno has played 3118 minutes, De Bruyne has 1221 and yet both of them have created the same amount of big chances (21), and De Bruyne even has more assists. It's not really comparable.
De Bruyne doesn't take penalties for City. That season, 9 of those 18 goals were penalties. And yes, De Bruyne has beaten that. 13 goals and 20 assists in the 19/20 season. And Bruno doesn't really score a lot of goals. He has 6 non-penalty goals in the league this season. He would definitely have more assists playing for City, though.
To me Kevin de Bruyne is one of the best footballers in the world these past years. Certainly his stats have been boosted as much by being catered for by Guardiola/UAE, his stats for Belgium are more ‘human’ I would guess? But then again, he has earned that role on merit and with competition. I have no need to claim Bruno to be a superior player to him, even if I’d loved (no, I’d hated it!) to see Bruno play for City in de Bruyne’s place.
Funnily, the one important thing Bruno really has over De Bruyne, is what you mention - his everpresentness. Now, City with their double rows of profile fitted superstars actually do quite well without De Bruyne. United don’t have that luxury, we’re a whole other prospect without Bruno, and I amagine how frustrating it would have been for us seeing the team built around a player with so many sick days as De Bruyne.
I agree with every point you make. It has to be said that Pep has handled De Bruyne's minutes and Foden's progress extremely well. Now, Foden is his natural successor and they will have absolutely no problem when De Bruyne is gone. That's how you manage aging players with younger talents coming through.
When it comes to us, we have made no attempt to do anything at all. We have Bruno here who is left with all the burden, but what happens next? Are we going to change our style of play? Are we going to continue playing him 90 minutes every game? What is the plan when the time comes to replace him, because it will come, maybe sooner rather than later. De Bruyne is unreal, but even him at 32 isn't the same player, and Bruno is going to be 32 when his contract expires. I really hope we don't plan on renewing his contract now, because that would just be repeating the same mistakes we've been doing for the last years. I'm confident in INEOS, though. They don't seem to be fecking around, and they're clearly not as sentimental as fans.
Personally, I hope we move away from playing with a number 10, unless we can get a Wirtz, Ødegaard or Foden type of attacking midfielder. I just think it's way too much hit and miss with number 10s like Bruno Fernandes. It's a bit of a dying role as well. Modern teams focus more on packing the midfield, because it's so easy to get outnumbered in midfield with a pure number 10, and then you have real problems like losing control of the midfield. We've seen that time and time again this season.
I think KdB’s best years/peak are behind him. Injuries have taken its toll and let’s be honest, he’s been incredible for a good 4/5/6 years now. At his peak, he was still a level above Bruno IMO - and I’m not sure if it’s by virtue of just how talented he is and/or being part of a functioning and dominating City, plus always competing for (& winning) the major trophies. Probably a combination of both. Bruno probably needed to be in a better side if he really wanted to be compared to KdB because at the end of the day the titles do count.
It has been interesting to see us lately, packing the midfield (with McT and Bruno as maybe two interchanging false nines/eights in a 4-2/2-4 midfield. I also hope that Mount/Amad/Mainoo can grow into alternatives for Bruno in the future. The previous candidates we had for that theoretical switch were Van de Beek and that was pretty much it.
Ask any fan who doesnt support Utd who they would pick in their prime. The one that has won 2 player of the year awards would get overwhelmingly the vote. Time for some of you to take off the rose tinted glasses.
Yep, all of this
he’s also more versatile with where he can play, which allows Pep to play more formations rather than Bruno who basically has to play as a 10 and that’s it. He reduces our tactical play considerably which means we struggle to ever play a possession based game
im not even sure Pep would use him nearly as much as we do because of that strategic limitation. He certainly wouldn’t want his team to rely on him as much as we do.
If you take the fact that city average 65% possession and United have 50% and increase Fernandes' output to reflect him being in City's side, and reduce De Bruyne's to reflect him being in United's side ((21/5) x 6.5 and (21/6.5) x 5 respectively) then you'd end up with Fernandes creating 27 big chances and De Bruyne creating 16.
Furthermore City created 0.04 big chances per minute of possession this year in premier league. United created 0.032 big chances per minute of posession. Swap the players into the different teams, weight their big chance creation, and Fernandes would be at 34 and De Bruyne's would be at around 13.
Obviously doing that is not an exact science at all, but it gives an idea the difference between playing in City's side vs United's side, and shows the players are closer than those stats suggest
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Guys. Do the eye test. Which of the 2 is a better player based on that?
Bruno gives you hard work, fitness, discipline and passion to an almost uncontested level. He's also much better defensively than De Bruyne.
That being said, De Bruyne is clearly the better player. Maybe not at this exact moment, but looking at their careers it's a different ball game. That is not a slight on Bruno though. It's just that De Bruyne is a hall of fame level player. Possibly the best attacking midfielder in the PL era.
That being said, De Bruyne is clearly the better player. Maybe not at this exact moment, but looking at their careers it's a different ball game. That is not a slight on Bruno though. It's just that De Bruyne is a hall of fame level player. Possibly the best attacking midfielder in the PL era.
I mean what use is an eye test really when one of them plays for City and the other plays for United? I really don't see how people can't see this. One of these players' output is being elevated, and one's is being reduced by playing for a mostly dysfunctional side.
Use Raheem Sterling as an example. For City he had a goal or assist every 123 min. For Chelsea he has a goal or assist every 172 min. Playing for City clearly elevates you. Swap Bruno and KDB for the last 10 years and you would have people saying KDB is good but not at Bruno's level.
The point being is that there really isn't that much between the players. KDB may well be better, but it's not clear cut like people make out. For example, for their national teams, where they're both playing in similar quality sides, they have an almost identical record of goals and assists per 90 min.
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