How will Bruno fit into Ten Hag's style of play?

Bastian

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Bruno did wonders playing Ole-ball, with him given free reign to whack long balls to James, Martial and Rashford to chase. He can't really play deeper as a genuine CM given his calamitous lack of composure and bad decision making while under pressure in the defensive third (that assist to Palace is a frequent occurrence). Will Ten Hag play a 4231 to accommodate him there, or will he either have to seriously adapt for a 433 midfielder role or be played out wide (where admittedly, Ten Hag probably wants inside forwards cutting in)?

If, as we're all expecting, we're signing two new starting midfielders, let's assume FDJ is brought over the line and there's a tactically sound defensive midfielder next to him, we have Donny who already knows Ten Hag's system and seems to have only ever played well in exactly that kind of system, and then we have Bruno who is an absolute maverick and does what he wants.

Makes it even more strange that we upgraded his wages without any need to do so, prior to Ten Hag taking over.

Along with Maguire and de Gea and Ronnie, he's the biggest question mark for the type of football I expect from Ten Hag
 
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Can we not call it Ole-ball? It was counterattacking football.

And I suspect he will play on a wide attacking forward role unless he can be controlled and learn not to lose 7/10 of his passes.
 
Bastian said:
Bruno did wonders playing Ole-ball, with him given free reign to whack long balls to James, Martial and Rashford to chase. He can't really play deeper as a genuine CM given his calamitous lack of composure and bad decision making while under pressure in the defensive third (that assist to Palace is a frequent occurrence). Will Ten Hag play a 4231 to accommodate him there, or will he either have to seriously adapt for a 433 midfielder role or played out wide (where admittedly, Ten Hag probably wants inside forwards cutting inside)?

If, as we're all expecting, we're signing two new starting midfielders, let's assume FDJ is brought over the line and there's a tactically sound defensive midfielder next to him, we have Donny who already knows Ten Hag's system and seems to have only ever played well in exactly that kind of system, and then we have Bruno who is an absolute maverick and does what he wants.

Makes it even more strange that we upgraded his wages without any need to do so, prior to Ten Hag taking over.

Along with Maguire and de Gea, he's the biggest question mark for the type of football I expect from Ten Hag and Ronnie
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Short answer; he won't.

Longer answer; he will have to reel in his natural inclination to hit low percentage, high volume, first time passes. I actually think if he plays as a striker where his energy and his ability to press is used, then it can work. Midfield, not at all, will be a leaky pipe in the plumbing.
 
He won’t. We’ll probably get one more season out of him.
 
GreatDane said:
Can we not call it Ole-ball? It was counterattacking football.

And I suspect he will play on a wide attacking forward role unless he can be controlled and learn not to lose 7/10 of his passes.
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Fair enough, I'm not sure what to call it prior to signing Bruno in January, but it was something.

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
Short answer; he won't.

Longer answer; he will have to reel in his natural inclination to hit low percentage, high volume, first time passes. I actually think if he plays as a striker where his energy and his ability to press is used, then it can work. Midfield, not at all, will be a leaky pipe in the plumbing.
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Yeah, that's conceivable, a false nine.
 
I see him ending up like Mata and Pogba. Wouldn’t be sold at the right time and wouldn’t be able to achieve his true potential here.
 
He won't IMO. He'll try to make it work obviously but he'll be phased out of the first 11 either this coming season or the next.
 
GreatDane said:
Can we not call it Ole-ball? It was counterattacking football.

And I suspect he will play on a wide attacking forward role unless he can be controlled and learn not to lose 7/10 of his passes.
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I would also see him playing a wide playmaker role with Donny potentially taking his position centrally if he can show ETH he’s capable of playing at the required level in the PL.
 
ETH has a clear philosophy but he is not religious to any particular formation. He will design at least three systems to fit the players by needs, including Bruno. I am looking forward to what he will do. It’s exciting, isn’t it?
 
See him being played as an attacker either from the left or as a false 9. At this point he is too far gone to try and quell his natural instinct for low percentage passes.
 
I guess he could be a decent foil for Ronnie in a false nine position if Ronnie is drifting to the left, but I'm actually hoping to see Sancho just played there and for Ronnie to get a 5-6 days between matches (i.e. properly managed, whether or not he likes it).
 
People talk like it's a certainty ETH will try to set the team up as a replica in style of his Ajax side, but that's not likely IMO. Many (most?) of our players wouldn't suit that style of play, Bruno included. The team will inevitably be a balance between what suits the players we have with some implementation of ETH's style of play and a small number of additional signings.

We'll likely end up playing 4231, with Bruno as a number 10 and Ronaldo as a number 9, because they are our two best players and that's their best position. Maybe when Ronaldo leaves or if he's injured we'll see Bruno as a false 9.
 
what is his favorite formation?

city-puma said:
ETH has a clear philosophy but he is not religious to any particular formation. He will design at least three systems to fit the players by needs, including Bruno. I am looking forward to what he will do. It’s exciting, isn’t it?
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I agree with this. He knows he has an assist machine in Fernandes, (proven in the premier league) and goals as well. He will squeeze the best out of him. If it’s playing Ronaldo and him centrally with the width coming from fullbacks and three disciplined midfielders consisting of Donny, Frankie and a CDM signing. Or just swap Donny for sancho or elanga and have Bruno as a roamer from the wing.
Bastian said:
I guess he could be a decent foil for Ronnie in a false nine position if Ronnie is drifting to the left, but I'm actually hoping to see Sancho just played there and for Ronnie to get a 5-6 days between matches (i.e. properly managed, whether or not he likes it).
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this is very important
 
ShinjiNinja26 said:
Anyone know how ETH’s Utrecht side played? And how it differed in any way from his Ajax team.
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"Ten Hag's most used formations in this particular season were the 4-3-1-2/4-4-2 (51%), 4-3-3 (18%) and the 3-4-1-2 (10%)"
 
He will be just fine, because good players adapt and bruno is an excellent football player. I can see him playing off the left or still through the middle depending on how ETH sets up.
 
He is a goal scorer, ETH will love him. Watch him become a completely different player compared to the last few months.
 
Think he'll end up being a right forward. There won't be enough money to invest in one.
 
Someone said:
Think he'll end up being a right forward. There won't be enough money to invest in one.
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Could definitely happen. Would be a shame for Amad and Pellistri, I'd be more than happy to keep them both and have them fight for that place if we're not signing anyone there.
 
mu4c_20le said:
He is a goal scorer, ETH will love him. Watch him become a completely different player compared to the last few months.
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I expect all players will become completely different players under his reign. I don’t think I am over optimistic. ;)
 
He'll play the Vdb role in ajax 18/19 season, vdb started as an advanced midfielder but when the team were in possession he'll move up alongside the center forward pinning the center backs back to create space in between the lines for Ziyech to drift into or Tadic (false 9) dropping off, vdb ROK would be to attack spaces creating spaced for the other guys.
I don't see why Bruno can't play this role occupying the center when CR7 drift off the middle and attacking the channel when a winger drop off.
If he has players around him who are great in possession (Sancho, Frankie+ another) around him he'll be fantastic and will play at a higher level than we have ever seen him, play him with poor ball operators and he'll look bad.
 
I think he will be perfectly suited for a false nine or even for a trequartista role. His main skills are goalscoring and one touch passing after all.

ETH has history of playing attacking midfielders on those roles (Tadic and VDB).

As a lot of above posters have mentioned, Bruno is not a CM and dont really have the physical attributes to play out wide.
 
Basing his ability on his performances this year makes no sense. Everyone was terrible. The team fell apart

ETH has adapted in the past. His two Ajax teams were totally different in terms of roles. Bruno is top five most productive attacking mids in the world. Donny might get opportunities but he has a lot of work to get past Bruno. As a thought experiment, imagine how many Bruno would score and assist in ETHs Ajax team in the Dutch league. Probably 50-60 g/a if he had a good season.
 
If ETH adds Frankie to the team and plays Donny regularly, then Bruno might need a new position.

I would speculate Bruno’s tendencies to give the ball away will mean his time in central midfield might be limited.

Any midfield 3 involving Bruno is always going to put more defensive pressure on the other 2.
 
will play as the 10 or on the wing.

with a proper structure in place based on movement and work rate he will thrive.

he needs to tidy up the mistakes but i’m sure he will manage that, he wasn’t this untidy at the start. I think he tries just too hard to be creative which is a byproduct of the team relying on him so much.
 
I half expect he and ETH to see a halftime brawl. In the time tiki taka would have made 6-7 passes Bruno would have tried to bypass the build up entirely. Controlled build up manager vs build up averse midfielder. Not even the kind of problem that has an east middle ground. Perhaps if there were two balls allowed so Bruno could monopolise the 2nd.
 
Adam-Utd said:
will play as the 10 or on the wing.

with a proper structure in place based on movement and work rate he will thrive.

he needs to tidy up the mistakes but i’m sure he will manage that, he wasn’t this untidy at the start. I think he tries just too hard to be creative which is a byproduct of the team relying on him so much.
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Agree. He was trying to always do the killer pass because he knew that no one else could. And sometimes you just have to pass it around.
 
RuudTom83 said:
If ETH adds Frankie to the team and plays Donny regularly, then Bruno might need a new position.

I would speculate Bruno’s tendencies to give the ball away will mean his time in central midfield might be limited.

Any midfield 3 involving Bruno is always going to put more defensive pressure on the other 2.
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Donny Van de Beek isn’t dictating what position Bruno Fernandes plays in. Give me strength.
 
I think he will improve his all round play and be an option for midfield 3, but wont get the goals and assists he once did. Or play more as a forward like Tadic was used as
 
Players can adapt so i think Bruno may have to adapt his game. But if Donny can bring some real competition for a starting slot against Bruno then who knows.

First time in a long time im looking forward to a season starting.
 
If we play like Ajax did, then Bruno will anyways end up in final third a lot. We will push higher up the pitch and control the game in opposition half, most of our attackers and Bruno will be in and around the box for most of the game.

I don't think he will pick lot of risky passes but that's the assumption. If he still wants to play the same way, he will be on the bench.
 
Played deeper for Portugal last night, I think that’s where he’ll end up and to me we’re crying out for a flat 3 in midfield. He’ll definitely need to improve his ball retention though.
 
Probably in the Tadic role with Sancho on the right and DvB behind the striker
 
He'll be fine, if ETH is as good as he's expected to be, he will find a way to make little changes to how Bruno plays and if Bruno is as good as we want him to be, he will make those adjustments. If it is in midfield or part of a front 3.
 
Bruno hasn’t had hands on coaching since he joined us - you never know, maybe he’ll relish a more defined role under ETH. If he doesn’t change his style of play though he’ll be gone, that’s for sure.
 
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