Bruno Fernandes must be freed from current restrictive role | OneFootball

Manchester United’s midfield woes are well-documented.

The Red Devils once again showed up their weaknesses in a 0-0 draw with Leeds United at the weekend in the opening match of pre-season.

Manager Ruben Amorim also put his finger on this after the match when he claimed his team needs more pace in the midfield.

Bruno Fernandes solution

For most of Fernandes’ career, he has played in a more advanced attacking midfield role.

Nonetheless, last season he was often deployed as a number eight in Amorim’s system, mainly to counteract the lack of passing from United’s other midfielders.

In spite of Fernandes’ great statistics and clear importance to the team, he is not suited to a midfield two.

Midfield always looks unbalanced

The great problem that Fernandes has in midfield is that none of United’s current partners seem to complement him.

Manuel Ugarte adds bite but lacks passing, Casemiro has experience but can no longer regularly match the tempo of English football.

Kobbie Mainoo adds dribbling and passing but he lacks the defensive know-how and athleticism in his game right now to be a reliable partner.

Bruno lacks physicality

Amorim needs his midfielders to cover substantial ground and Fernandes certainly tries as his running statistics are always highly impressive.

Nonetheless, he does not always cover ground efficiently and this can certainly hurt the team who are too often played through in the midfield.

Bruno is such a hard-worker and team player that he will clearly make an impact even on the more unnatural side of his game like defensive work.

Unfortunately, the Premier League is home to the most physically imposing and running monsters in world football, meaning no matter how much Bruno tries, he is always likely to be unmatched.

Two vs three

Amorim particularly needs physical specimens in midfield as his choice of playing two central midfielders will usually be outmatched by the more popular midfield three deployed by most oppositions.

Ugarte has shown he can cope as he has incredible stamina to hound midfielders but it is unfair to expect a 30-year-old Fernandes to do this every match.

Were Fernandes to play in a midfield three, it would certainly be easier for him to cope but this is unlikely to change whilst Amorim is boss.

Unleash Bruno further forward

The biggest compliment that can be paid to Bruno is he is still the club’s best player even when played out of position.

Fernandes scored an incredible 19 goals last season and made 19 assists, even while playing in the middle of the park in numerous matches.

Since he has arrived in England his statistics speak for themselves. He is first in games played, sixth in goals scored, third in assists, third in overall goal involvements, second in shots taken and first in chances created.

This is an outstanding attacking threat that should be played as close to goal as possible to make things happen.

Now with Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo as teammates, his creativity should only go into overdrive.

Kobbie Mainoo future

Finally, one of the biggest reasons Bruno has been asked to play in the midfield two is the lack of passing.

Mainoo has the potential to unlock this side of his game and showed some impressive long-range passes in the match against Leeds at the weekend.

He is only 20 years old but he needs time in the middle of the park and Fernandes will restrict those much needed minutes.

The Englishman effectively lost last year’s development to injury but his 2023/2024 season shows this is a player who needs to be given the chance to excel at the club.

Finally, United now have attacking depth in the number 10 positions and Fernandes can be rested from time to time and mainly focus on being the creative force he yearns to be at Old Trafford.

Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images

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