Sure, but it also falls in line with all the reports from the media about the original asking price and the final purchase value.
What does he have to gain by telling the truth? He only strengthens his negotiating position moving forward if he says United caved to their price. Anyway, Fernandes looks good, but any team starting Matic in midfield is going to struggle to get the best out of him. Need a competent midfield behind Bruno. God bless Dan James, but if he's half of the attacking threat Bruno has to find, that's also terrible. I think in the short term, the best part about Bruno's addition is not his ability to playmake. He's good at it, but he's best at creating opportunities when the ball is moving quickly (currently only Martial is capable of thinking/playing at his pace) or when we are on the counter attack. Biggest impact this season will be set pieces. Direct freekicks, corners, crossing opportunities.
Ronaldo inspired me to come to United - Fernandes https://www.skysports.com/football/...ldo-inspired-me-to-play-for-manchester-united Like the part he spoke about his ambitions and what United means to him: let's hope the club can match it this time around, please. Let's learn from how we've failed a supreme talent like Pogba...
My disgust of Matic is well documented on this forum, but what does it say about our other CMs that he’s been comfortably better than anyone else in the past few months played in our midfield 3 besides Fred. To me that’s pretty damning of AP, Mata, and Jesse. When I see game after game of Matic playing more dangerous passes than those 3 it confirms what I already knew...they have no place in this team.
I don't agree with that assessment. He's been the worst player on our books for 18 months. I don't know what broke Jesse, but it is clear he's broken. He needs to reset. I don't think assessing him on his current form is fair. He needs a move, but he's not this player. Something's wrong and he's not capable of playing anywhere near his best right now. I think AP has suffered from playing too many positions with too many different briefs. Our midfield isn't just rubbish, it is non-existent. If we count Pogba gone, we need a starting 6 or 6/8 and we need an 8 if we intend to stick with an advanced playmaker and use Bruno in that role. Biggest midfield disappointment for me is that we've not given games to Garner. Given how badly we've played and how desperate our need for bodies in that position is, we could well have used 10-15 90s (minutes combined) from him this season which would have boosted his development significantly. There's no point to playing Matic. He's too slow to defend, his decision making is shit and his passing is poor. He has literally zero upside.
I’m confused. You say you disagree but then don’t really address what specifically you disagree with. Matic is useless and I agree he shouldn’t be in our team. But he’s been more effective than the guys I listed. You list the reasons they’ve been effective but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve still been ineffective. I’ll admit I’m done with Jesse and AP. Jesse I’ve never been a huge fan of but I acknowledge that he was very effective in certain situations because of his defensive contribution and movement. But both those things have dried up and now we are left with a below average footballer. I’m starting to think I was just wrong about AP. He always passes the eye test with me and it’s clear he has talent. I’m still not sure why he hasn’t worked, whether it’s mental or what. Positionally he is somewhere between an 8 and 10 so it’s hard to find his best position. But no matter where he’s been played he has failed to create chances, gets caught on the ball constantly, and just seems happy to be out there rather than influence the game.
From the little we have seen with him he does this on the pitch too. Think we gave Maguire the captaincy too soon.
I agree: the guy's barely been with the club a month and his impact on so many different levels has been remarkable. More egg on the face of our leadership, who were annoyed with the links to him they claimed were false and manufactured by the Portuguese press. On top of the made up reasons why they allegedly were not interested. Ole put his best though... OGS on Bruno Fernandes: "In today's market, we got a good deal."— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) February 23, 2020
The more I watch Bruno the more I hate Ed and his scouting team. Dragging out negotiations coming up with nonsense over turnovers and essentially wasting half a season and 20 extra mill to get a guy Stevie Wonder could see we needed.
Yes he is a very good player and is fitting well on your team. I am a scout part time and always rated him highly. I believe your team will secure champions league football this season and Bruno will be a big help in doing so.
What I specifically disagree with is Matic not being the worst player on our books. You have to go past U23s to the U18s to find a worse CM on our team. He's ********ing useless. He's this weird combination of high risk low reward. Play him and you have a chance to have a CM who can't win any ground duels, plays 2 good passes a game, takes 5 touches when 2 will do, LOVES to ignore better players and will create 3 chances for the opposition every game. What do you get in return other than those 2 good passes? Why, we'll throw in one clearance and one header.
I totally think Matic is a garbage CM that needs to be sold. What I was saying is that on form he’s been better than the other guys getting CM minutes besides Fred. That’s not praise on Matic, it’s damning criticism of how bad the other guys have been. That was my point.
Well, okay, but Matic isn't on form and he's had exactly 60 minutes of useful play this season. Useful play is him not being the biggest liability on the pitch. Jesse and AP are bad, I don't think Jesse has any CM time but AP at CM might make some mistakes, but he is still better than Matic. I'm happy to lose Jesse's wages, but I think we should keep AP around as a squaddie. He's cheap, home grown, hasn't hit his peak and can fill in and give you a 5 or 6 out of 10 performance in multiple positions. Keeping him might be the difference between buying a better player at 2 positions and thus eliminating minutes for kids in the cups. But we are way off topic in Bruno's thread. Bruno's chant is good.
Imagine where we would be if not for Ed's Phuckery!! We could have a sold hold on third at least and have a w or two against the scouse.
Paul Scholes: "What do I like about Bruno? Everything so far. Creativity. His awareness on the pitch. Before the ball comes to him he knows what's around him. He's sensational — you just wonder why nobody else came in for him or why we didn't get him in the summer." #mulive [bt]— utdreport (@utdreport) February 27, 2020