Gives the ball away so often it's unreal. And not just trying to make near impossible defence splitting passes either where you might forgive him losing possession, even relatively easy passes seem beyond him most of the time now.
Is Bruno Fernandes the answer?
- Thread starter moses
- Start date
One way to find the balance would be by playing 433
so bruno can try his hero balls to the front 3 and he also tracks back decently
Mcfred+bruno
Sancho Ronaldo greenwood
Ronaldo should start every cl game and occasionally pl games
Cavani/Rashford based on match fitness to occupy the PL striker place
Rangnick must seriously rotate players and stop playing the same players a
so bruno can try his hero balls to the front 3 and he also tracks back decently
Mcfred+bruno
Sancho Ronaldo greenwood
Ronaldo should start every cl game and occasionally pl games
Cavani/Rashford based on match fitness to occupy the PL striker place
Rangnick must seriously rotate players and stop playing the same players a
Yeah i agree. This Portuguese Clique at United has likely happened from Ronaldo believing that the rest of the team is not good enough for his 36 year old standards - Bruno acting like his puppy due to Ronaldo being a god to him, talking about how their football is better than everyone else's. How Dalot is better than Wan Bissaka aswell.
The team cohesion has gone on the pitch in a physical way so it's not a surprise it's gone in a mental way.
Ronaldo is the main man of our tactics, to act like he wont be the main man of the dressing room is just wrong.
Problem is when he plays upfront we have to play him with Ronaldo and together it doesn't work because the ball simply doesn't stick. They are both prone to giving the ball away. It's different to when he played with Martial whom could play with his back to goal or even Cavani when he was looking sharp.
Problem is Bruno in midfield is a bad idea especially when all teams in the league have figured they can press us. Add McT to the mix who hides, he'll be giving the ball away for fun in the wrong position. We moan about Pogba giving the ball away there, put Bruno there it would become brutal.
Bruno himself also called Ronaldo so there’s that.
ronaldo signing wasn’t the issue, no CDM signing was the issue! We even needed that and a CM.
He’s anyways played in an unnatural position in the current formation so we can try him in midfield 3. He should be able to if not then the coaches should be blamed.
The formation is doing him no favors. He’s still absolute class. We need to ditch the 4222 and play some variation of 433/4231 to get the best out of him. The team looked much better against Wolves when he was on the pitch.
To me, Bruno is never a pure attacking midfielder, but more of shadow striker or no.10.
His strength is goalscoring, providing final ball, and aggression.
His weakness is tendency of losing possession, unable to link up midfield, lack of build up play.
If we play with 2 forward, I’d prefer him to partner Ronaldo in attack, instead of sitting back at attacking midfield role.
His strength is goalscoring, providing final ball, and aggression.
His weakness is tendency of losing possession, unable to link up midfield, lack of build up play.
If we play with 2 forward, I’d prefer him to partner Ronaldo in attack, instead of sitting back at attacking midfield role.
Ship his ass out
Bruno's poor form is a big part of the problem for our attack just as Maguire's terrible form is a big reason for our defense being crap.
So to answer the question, for the short term, getting these two players back to or near their best is the solution. Longer term though, it shows how much work we have to do so we are not at the mercy of a couple of players to turn us from good to very poor.
So to answer the question, for the short term, getting these two players back to or near their best is the solution. Longer term though, it shows how much work we have to do so we are not at the mercy of a couple of players to turn us from good to very poor.
Yeah I do get that. However; the ball doesn't stick right now anyway? At least we can have some creativity.
Its really annoying because I watch Jiminez and other players that we play against, they play the ball to the striker, make a run off and get the ball back. When we play to our strikers, the ball is either bouncing off them, the defender gets a foot in. Its really frustrating because it causes a ball turn over.
I really hope this is something Greenwood is working on.
People that are considering selling him really deserve LVG's sideways football and low quality squad 
Bruno was consistently our best player for 18 months, he dragged this club to victory time and time again while doing it with style. Yes he's going through a rough patch now, I honestly think he's been played into the ground, but his effort levels have never declined.
We're not talking Pogba, Martial, Rashford etc. where they're good for a few weeks/months then disappear again, he turned it on week in week out. He is a quality player and should be one of the first names on the team sheet when in form.
If we get rid we'd be selling arguably the one top quality player (not on reputation, on performances) that we've signed since Fergie left.
No-one says "Manchester United" in our squad more than him, people just have very short memories.
We're not talking Pogba, Martial, Rashford etc. where they're good for a few weeks/months then disappear again, he turned it on week in week out. He is a quality player and should be one of the first names on the team sheet when in form.
If we get rid we'd be selling arguably the one top quality player (not on reputation, on performances) that we've signed since Fergie left.
No-one says "Manchester United" in our squad more than him, people just have very short memories.
That is also my major concern. He is not firing on all cylinders this season I will give you that, but he has proven in the last 18 months that when on form, his numbers are simply amazing. We have to get the best out of him and build the team around him, but, like you, I fear he will soon realise this club ain't winning anything anytime soon and he'll want to get the feck outta dodge and TBH, would you blame him?
l:He's just not that good. A big fish in a small pond player. He wouldn't start for any top team competing for top trophies, and we won't so long as he's considered an important player.
He won't find a bigger club than United to take him, he also has a contract till 2026.
So you'd go for a front 4 that are known for:
- losing the ball
- doing feck all after losing the ball
- having 0 physicality
This is not fifa mate.
That is true to be fair. But you should never trust players to choose the players/recruit, it’s like students choosing the lesson.
Behind only Shearer, Cantona and Cole in reaching 50 Premier League goals/assists in the fewest games (equal with Salah) but okay mate.
Also even with his recent terrible form has 53 goals/assists in 69 appearances. That's a fantastic record.
By the end of last season, was higher than the likes of Kane & Salah in terms of goals/assists since his debut.
Also highest assists in the CL so far this season.
"Just not that good" though.
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I think the issue is more Bruno's weaknesses in the context of the squad.
Bruno is essentially high risk high reward in how he approaches the game. Personally I think there is some coaching to be done to really get him to find a better balance with that but ultimately that's who he is as a player. It won't be too everyone's taste e.g. I'm not sure Pep would be willing to accomodate someone like that but I think Fergie would have been.
The issue as I see it is that I think you need to be able to balance out these sort of players in the team by having other players who will make up for their shortcomings, unfortunately I think our team is really not balanced and means weaknesses get emphasised.
Rashford/Greenwood/Ronaldo by nature are all risk takers and selfish in their approaches. Whether it's form or a combination of form/approach these three and Bruno+Sancho/Cavani are also prone to giving the ball away. As such it's very difficult to build sustained attacks.
This in term contributes to our inability to control games. Yes the midfield is weak but City/Liverpool/Chelsea aren't controlling games purely due to their midfield, it's how the whole team operate. The play to retain the ball as a unit. Our attack does not operate like that. Typically this has led to us needing to rely on not conceding and then individual moments to see us through games and personally I think in the past we've ridden our luck with that a bit through teams missing chances, DDG heroics and some previous good fortune with penalties. I don't think it sustainable to have an attack that's so unbalanced.
As such I think Bruno can be an answer but we have to think about the context of the team. I think if you go with Bruno as a 10 with Ronaldo then the other two wide players have to be making sensible decisions when in attack and there needs to be a strong platform behind them to be able to deal with the fact that we're likely to give possession away. Unless you're able to change Bruno as a player then I think that will always be an issue and so we have to figure out how we get the right balance as a team and then in attack.
Bruno is essentially high risk high reward in how he approaches the game. Personally I think there is some coaching to be done to really get him to find a better balance with that but ultimately that's who he is as a player. It won't be too everyone's taste e.g. I'm not sure Pep would be willing to accomodate someone like that but I think Fergie would have been.
The issue as I see it is that I think you need to be able to balance out these sort of players in the team by having other players who will make up for their shortcomings, unfortunately I think our team is really not balanced and means weaknesses get emphasised.
Rashford/Greenwood/Ronaldo by nature are all risk takers and selfish in their approaches. Whether it's form or a combination of form/approach these three and Bruno+Sancho/Cavani are also prone to giving the ball away. As such it's very difficult to build sustained attacks.
This in term contributes to our inability to control games. Yes the midfield is weak but City/Liverpool/Chelsea aren't controlling games purely due to their midfield, it's how the whole team operate. The play to retain the ball as a unit. Our attack does not operate like that. Typically this has led to us needing to rely on not conceding and then individual moments to see us through games and personally I think in the past we've ridden our luck with that a bit through teams missing chances, DDG heroics and some previous good fortune with penalties. I don't think it sustainable to have an attack that's so unbalanced.
As such I think Bruno can be an answer but we have to think about the context of the team. I think if you go with Bruno as a 10 with Ronaldo then the other two wide players have to be making sensible decisions when in attack and there needs to be a strong platform behind them to be able to deal with the fact that we're likely to give possession away. Unless you're able to change Bruno as a player then I think that will always be an issue and so we have to figure out how we get the right balance as a team and then in attack.
I may be wrong but it seems to me that hes the reason for the dressing room unrest. His body language and attitude has been shite recently. If thats the case then i dont care what he's done for us, get rid. How can you pack it in with a manager just weeks into him starting.
No he doesnt bring what we are missing the most.
Also a problem that Bruno do not seam to link up with Ronaldo very well. Same for Portugal when he plays. Think Bruno needs a more aggressive attacker in front of him. One who takes more deep runs and create more room in the center for Bruno to operate on.
I think the club has too many issues for Bruno to solve so no he's not the answer.
I do think he can improve our situation though. If we are playing this 4-4-2 that Ralf likes I'd play Bruno as one of the strikers with some freedom to drop deep or spin in behind. I think he could work really well up top with a strike partner but dropping deeper when we don't have the ball / to link play.
I do think he can improve our situation though. If we are playing this 4-4-2 that Ralf likes I'd play Bruno as one of the strikers with some freedom to drop deep or spin in behind. I think he could work really well up top with a strike partner but dropping deeper when we don't have the ball / to link play.
If Real Madrid offered £70m now I would sell him in a heartbeat.
Bruno is the best performing player we've had since RVP in Fergie's last season and one of the few you can guarantee a shift from even if he's off-form. It is bizarre that a decent chunk of our fanbase doesn't rate him and seems to want rid.
We've absolutely ran him into the ground and he's struggling with the recent tactical changes but signing him is one of the few good moves the club has made in recent times. Sidelining and/or selling him to accommodate players who offer less would be monumentally stupid.
We've absolutely ran him into the ground and he's struggling with the recent tactical changes but signing him is one of the few good moves the club has made in recent times. Sidelining and/or selling him to accommodate players who offer less would be monumentally stupid.
Since January of last year Bruno has scored 8 non penalty league goals (3 in one game) and has 7 assists in 40 games. For the position he plays in that’s not great.
Where are you getting 53 goals and assists in 69 recent games?
It’s quite easy to simply write 18 months of week in week out, single handidly dragging the team etc etc but the reality is different. You only have to look back through performance threads to find that he was inconsistent week to week, game to game as early on as the start of last season. Big games particularly he was most often terrible in and by January he was well out of form and hasn’t really recovered.
Bruno was great for Sporting in liga nos and for the most part of his United career. He deserves better than fans questioning him.
Who are our left sided players? Rashford? The way I see it, Sancho and Greenwood can rotate on the right (until Greenwood is ready to be the #9) and Bruno and Rashford are our left sided players
Huh???
If he's the answer or not, it doesn't matter. What do you expect him to do, score 50 and assist 50 every year and somehow we win all the trophies? Jesus.
Without Bruno Fernandes we are a top six club at best. Ole put everything through Fernandes and you can see why he did that. When Bruno is off form we don't look a team whatsoever. Players like Rashford have fooled us into thinking there world class when there a mile behind the likes of Mahrez, Sterling, Grealish, Foden, Sane and Salah. The club is just run horribly from top to bottom. To the Glazers its just a business, look at the state of old Trafford.
Compare Shaw and AWB to Robertson and Trent and Cancelo and Walker.
Compare Rashford and Greenwood to Mane and Salah and Sterling and Foden.
Don't get me started on Midfield. We are a mile behind the top three clubs.
Compare Shaw and AWB to Robertson and Trent and Cancelo and Walker.
Compare Rashford and Greenwood to Mane and Salah and Sterling and Foden.
Don't get me started on Midfield. We are a mile behind the top three clubs.
Sancho's pressing was never an issue at Bayern and Greenwood should be a relatively strong player as he becomes a man. You're right that there's not a ton of strength, but that's not uncommon among sides that focus more on speed. I would guess that once Cavani and Ronaldo leave we might look for a more typical 9 as an option, especially if Greenwood is seen as a wide forward type. But we spent big on Amad too, and we're not going to be title contenders anytime soon so building towards a pacy, pressing front group that pins teams back due to their pace makes sense, even if we do have trouble breaking down teams (though the bigger issue there might be fullbacks and a midfield and managing).
If you take a step back, Sancho, Rashford and Greenwood are the highly rated players they are for a reason, and the sooner the club realizes the problem is that we can be pinned back by Wolves for an entire half at home the better, and that means getting a RB a CB and 2 midfielders who can really play the ball, as well as a system, philosophy and manager that prizes those things.
Are you confident that our lack of pace up top isn't allowing teams to push up and partly causing our issues controlling play? I'm not.
Could argue that Bruno in the front 3 makes sense because he's the kind of energetic AM type that Liverpool and City have had success with up there, but either way it won't matter until we have a real midfield and a defence comfortable on the ball.
I think he'd probably be great for Chelsea in their front 3 with those wingbacks and Lukaku. Liverpool too once Klopp got him pressing right. Wasn't that long ago they were going out to Atletico Madrid in the CL because they didn't have a midfielder who could break a team down. Curtis Jones and Elliot are hardly Seedorf and Gattuso and Klopp clearly wanted a bit more productivity in the final third to be picking them above veterans or demanding a Winaldjum replacement.
I think this is from feeling like nobody else is up to doing much and not having a manager to rein him in. Gerrard and Beckham had it positionally when they played as 8s and Bruno has it on the ball.
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We should try a 4312 with Bruno behind Sancho and Greenwood, imo.
He is not, when has he ever shown anything remotely close? Remove the penalties, and they are firmly gone this season, all that’s left is a very good but also inconsistent player. National team too, no penalties, very few goals. Bruno Fernandes is everything from spectacular to petulent and inconsistently magic - but he sure as hell isn’t world-class anything.