Solitude20

What you described there is a form of DM, or a holding midfielder. A person who rarely advances forward, stays close to the back line, provides decent/good vision and passing, and has a bit more of defensive duties compared to other midfielders. Shelvey is the Newcastle midfielder who fulfills that role. A midfielder with a defensive duty does not mean he has to tackle more than others, he can do all of his defensive duties by proper and smart positioning. Sergio Busquets and Andrea Pirlo (as mentioned by the other poster) are prime examples, though those two of course have more freedom in dictating play than Shelvey does. Based on all the minutes played by Bruno at Newcastle so far, he never showed any sign of covering that role. He is young and he can read the game well, you can argue that he can learn that role. But he was never played there in Newcastle, Lyon, or Brazil. Bruno plays in a similar role that Iniesta played: a creative box to box midfielder, or as some call it: a Mezzala. This role is usually given to a creative and mobile player who is allowed to get forward and support upfront, but still has a lot of defensive duties. Mezzala is similar to a box to box midfielder in the sense that both are mobile, but Mezzala is more technical and creative while a box to box midfielder is more physical and aggressive (J7 now). Whenever Howe brings Bruno in, he played him in that role, and that role has nothing to do with what Shelvey does. Actually, they complement each other, one is mobile and the other is holding position.

Bruno isn’t a defensive midfielder, he was never meant to replace Shelvey.

Imagine if the new owners took over last summer and brought all those new signings back then. Just saying.

And the thing is we almost won the West Ham game. Had ASM and Trippier been there, we might have beaten them in London.

Darwin Nunez will be playing tonight in the Champions League. We were linked with him before, and I believe this young guy will be one of the world’s top strikers in a few years. Nunez (22 year old), Botman (22 year old), and Bruno (24 year old) are all young players with massive potential. That would be a great planning for our European slot competition in a couple of year.

Lol, I get your point. But if we are 4th with our current form, then we could be 2nd with better players.

Bruno operates in the final third and offers a lot there. Playing him at the back in Shelvey’s place is a waste of his talent. i mean, look at what he offered in the final third in such short spell at Lyon. we need those defence-splitting passes NOW. No one does those in our current team.

I trust Howe, and that’s the only reason why I am okay with that. But don’t forget the ambition of the new owners, we have to win the EPL in 10 years and qualify for Europe in 2-3 years. That will only be achieved by replacing most of our starting team with better players. It is inevitable that many of our starting XI would be upset for not starting games next season. There’s noway around that, otherwise we won’t achieve our ambitions. what message are we sending to our potential signings next summer if they know they won’t be getting their promised playtime just to maintain the squad harmony? What if we keep the current form until the end of the season and never remove Willock from the starting XI, are we going to spend millions on world-class players then choose to play Willock just because we maintained form? The bigger question is: what could Bruno and those like him offer to the team when they are playing on great form? Even if Bruno was lower than his average form, he could outplay a top form Willock.

Bruno could definitely learn, he reads the game well, and look how Howe made Joe learn a new position. But the issue is how that would be a wasted opportunity to not use Bruno in a position where he could offer a better value. We lack a player who offers those key passes in the final third, and that’s one of the reasons why we signed him in the first place, as that was (and still is) a big area of improvement. We rely heavily on set-pieces and crosses for scoring because our midfield isn’t that creative. J7 is a typical box to box midfielder now (think Vidal). Willock does not have that vision. Bruno offers the vision, passing, dribbling, tackling, and off the ball movement. That’s why he was one of the best midfielders in Ligue-1.

Wow, I don’t think you guys appreciate Bruno. There is nothing that Willock offers that Bruno does not. On the other hand,Bruno is a much better passer, dribbler, and tackler than Willock. He reads the game better and offers excellent off the ball movements. He’s soon to become a regular starter in the Brazilian national team, and we say he can’t replace a midtable-tier Willock?

Bruno isn’t a holding midfielder. Bruno/Joelinton/Willock isn’t a balanced midfield.

Exactly what I was thinking. It’s not like he was given that many goalscoring opportunities to begin with. I can’t even remember any one on one situation he had with a goalkeeper. Most of our goals have been from set pieces or crosses. Our midfield isn’t that creative when it comes to creating chances, that’s why I think Bruno should get more playtime than 5 mins per game. Even if Wilson had been playing, I don’t think he would’ve scored many goals either.

That won’t work. Any midfield needs at least one holding midfielder, and that’s someone who stays deep all the time to support the defenders while giving those sweet passes forward. That’s Shelvey. Joe and Willock are more of box to box or ball winning midfielders. They are the roaming type. Bruno is also a roaming type, and having 3 roaming midfielders at the same time will simply leave you exposed at the back very easily. Won’t happen. Not only did Bruno play as the roaming/box to box type with Lyon and Brazil, you can see how we found him inside Everton’s penalty area 2 mins after coming in for a scoring opportunity (but ASM didn’t pass or he would have scored). His off the ball movement is great. He’s 100% taking Willock’s spot.

I am not sure if you are serious. Based on that logic, Chris Wood is one of the best strikers we have had in years since he was on pitch when we had one of our best runs.

I am surprised to read this. Bruno is leagues ahead of Willock in every possible way.

I don’t get this. What is the right time for introducing him to the starting team? Wood, Trippier, and Targett did not have to wait for a right time, why Bruno, especially him being the most talented out of the new signings.