The guy's not just good, but he's seriously likeable as well. True commitment, care and leadership on display. Scott McTominay went down the tunnel after he came off but Bruno Fernandes refused as he wanted to watch the rest of United’s win #mufchttps://t.co/ImvA1urnUF— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) February 28, 2020 No knock on the other players subbed who went down the tunnel btw: they did as they were told. Just another example of the type of person Bruno is. Been talking about finding our own gems the way Pool have in recent years and there is little doubt that he is ours. Hopefully, with more to come after him as soon as this summer...
Am really looking forward to see him combine with Pogs (even if it's just for a couple of months). And even more so, see what he does next season, when Rashford comes back, we hopefully have added a couple more big pieces in the team and he's had a (full?) preseason under his belt.
I think that's disingenuous. The point was, why is nobody else in for him? To this day, that isnt entirely clear. Either they were, and he simply wanted only us and wasnt interested in other teams. Or?
Because Eriksen and Lo Celso maybe? Even though things werent looking good for Eriksen, you never know as far as stocking too many no 10's.
Penny pinching, I thought. Was anyone in for Luis Suarez besides Liverpool? I seem to recall vague links with other teams but Liverpool were given a pretty clear run. I think teams are automatically more hesitant when a player is posting huge numbers in a lesser league. There's no clear algorithm to translate Dutch or Portuguese goals into Prem currency. if Bruno was tearing it up for the NT then maybe he'd have had more attention, but the Portugal setup is designed to get so little out of its attacking talent.
no one was in for Ndombele either. it truly means nothing but it's the usual nonsense just like prem proven, from smaller league, not big enough, hasn't won anything etc. etc.
To be fair, Ndombele has been utter garbage since moving to Spurs. I thought they pulled off a big coup getting him unchallenged but he’s looked bad and worse he’s given very little effort in a lot of the games I’ve watched. There’s even video of him against Wolves floating around where he is basically jogging around the pitching doing ******** all.
So... Bruno has clearly been immense since joining but just to play devils advocate is anyone worried about his giveaways against better teams? While he’s creating a ton of chances and basically making things tick in the final 3rd, he also gives the ball away a ton trying to force things. I’m fine with the give and take that comes with this type of player but I do worry about better teams punishing us for it. It also highlights our need for a proper 6 in my opinion.
I'm definitely of the opinion that people are getting a bit ahead of themselves in praising him. He has been good for sure so far but a lot of the superlatives seem a bit unearned to me, and I think are primarily the impact of him being a bit fortunate in his production so far (and that people always overrate new signings at first just because of that new car smell). He's got the 3 goals, but 2 of them are penalties and the other one should have been saved. The assists are also inflated by good finishing; 2 assists from 0.7 xA so far. In terms of give-aways it's not only the passing that irks slightly but also some undisciplined shooting from poor positions - he has taken 22 shots so far, only 8 on target and for a grand total of 1.3 xG. That's a quite low rate per shot and consistent with how he played in Portugal. Passing % not great as we expected. I think stylistically right now it mostly works because our attack was so bereft of ideas (even more so with Rashford out) that having a player try things even if they're relatively low percentage is an okay gamble. A hopeful long range effort is often more than we were creating from settled possession previously so it doesn't look so bad, and of course when they fly in everyone will sing his praises even if it's generally not a high percentage play. In that sense it has been a fairly easy adaptation process for him because while it's of course a bigger league, he's still being put in position where he can be the main man and effectively do as he pleases. I think the real questions around his give-aways will surface more when (hopefully) we have a better team with more options to create in attack. At that point I do think he will have to play a more consistent style and I think it's an open question whether he has the decision making to do so.
Putting the stats and numbers aside, what Bruno has provided to the team apart from a creative outlet that was seriously lacking in the team, are intangibles such as determination, leadership and drive. We've seen from day 1 the influence he's had on the players around him in terms of instructing them on where to be, what type of runs he expects them to make and so on. Those qualities alone have made him a very valuable addition already. We always knew about the potential for high giveaways and as it's been mentioned before, with the way he plays, that will come with the territory. Furthermore, we are nowhere near at full strength at this time and it stands to reason that his impact could be even greater once Pogba returns to the fold also. But it is also critical that the rebuild continues in earnest in the summer: we can not repeat the same mistake that was made with Pogba, where we failed to add quality pieces around him. There is only so much that one player can do before other teams adapt and start finding ways to slow him down. There is simply no denying that Bruno has been a clear success so far. And for it to continue, the club can not rest on their laurels in the belief that he's enough, because it's simply not the case.
You've almost answered your own question. I don't think the analysis of his pass completion really holds water when he is being given a role that specifically demands that he has a lower pass completion rate. I also think part of the problem with analysing xG from range is that any calculation based on an average level of ability is going to skew low when you're considerably above average, making it look like poorer decision making than it is. I get the urge to show restraint but this only really demonstrates how basic stats like these cannot be used alone. It's the tail wagging the dog to say we should be cautious because of his pass completion stats - we should be saying that his effectiveness shows why gauging pass completion stats based on 'higher = better' is too primitive. FWIW, his pass completion against Everton was 72% (diamond formation, poor performances from the front two, collectively poor 2nd half). Against Watford it was 72% (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 assist of the assist). Against Wolves and Chelsea, where we played 3-4-1-2 and had fewer options to pass forward to, it was 82% and 80%. I can't see what his figures are against Brugge in the 2nd leg.
Jose has already started ********ing with him, so im assuming he's unhappy already. Im not bothered. Mainly because if he became more conservative we would not do anything.
My inclination is to say he has been really, really good. However I am aware I must be suffering from some recency bias - having been made to suffer watching Lingard and AP struggle for so long. Had almost forgotten what watching a quality 8/10 was like More or less he has been as above average as they have been below average - so with perspective would probably downgrade it to a solid good. More to come from him though as we get more players back to play around him, as he is a catalyst - a key player in a key role
Bruno hasn't been as good as his results have been. But while he hasn't been great, he's been good and the good has come in areas where we've been criminally short of quality so his impact is actually bigger than his performance. If we get rid of Pogba, we definitely need to add a quality ball-progressing holding midfielder. I'm sad to think Pogba will leave because we'd finally have a quality midfield or a pair of quality midfielders that can progress the ball and create chances. I think they'd both benefit from each other's presence as well. As for why teams weren't in for him... he's in a weird kinda sweet spot. He's got obvious quality that would help many teams, but he's not elite outside of set pieces. He's better than say an Everton level of player, but not good enough to fit with a Chelsea (3rd/4th with cup runs and europe and hopes of a trophy every other season). But his wages and profile don't match smaller clubs even if he's not a great fit for a Madrid or a Barca type of team. A team like United, in a rebuild, trying to find our identity with an emphasis on attacking and creating a lot of chances is a good fit for him.
Fernandes's personality and fire are what convinced Ole to sign him. https://www.skysports.com/football/...ign-him-for-man-utd-says-ole-gunnar-solskjaer
Some Manchester United players felt a point away from home against an in-form Everton team was not a bad result, but Fernandes disagreed, telling them they should be “mad” at failing to win. [times] #MUFC— MUFC Scoop (@MUFCScoop) March 6, 2020 On the same afternoon he signed for #mufc in January, Bruno Fernandes asked Solskjær "Can I train now?". None of the squad were at Carrington but he opted to train with a fitness coach as he wanted to make a good impression and get up to speed for the Wolves game #mulive [times]— utdreport (@utdreport) March 6, 2020 Perfect examples of the previously made point about what Fernandes has brought to our team beyond his abilities on the pitch. The drive, the desire to excel: you clearly get the feeling he'll do his utmost to make the club successful in his watch.
How Fernandes has improved United thus far. https://www.skysports.com/football/...-impact-at-man-utd-beyond-anyones-expectation