Bruno Guimarães

[gbandit]

Think he’s been very good today to be honest 

[David Edgar]

He is too fixated on winning individual battles at the detriment of how he functions within the team. Just play the game and stop obsessing over getting one over your opponent.

[Rod]

1 minute ago, gbandit said:

Think he’s been very good today to be honest 

Eh?  I'm staggered by that comment.  He has to be the slowest footballer in the Premier League.

[gbandit]

1 minute ago, Rod said:

Eh?  I'm staggered by that comment.  He has to be the slowest footballer in the Premier League.

Well sure, he got left for dead by Gravenberch was it? We all know he’s slow as fuck but he’s also extremely press resistant and helped us retain possession a bunch of times when other players would have likely lost it 

[JT24]

2 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Well sure, he got left for dead by Gravenberch was it? We all know he’s slow as fuck but he’s also extremely press resistant and helped us retain possession a bunch of times when other players would have likely lost it 

Konate. Unless it happened twice. 

[gbandit]

Just now, JT24 said:

Konate. Unless it happened twice. 

Nah, you’re right, it was Konate I was thinking of but I misremembered as I couldn’t remember Konate driving forward with the ball that well in the past, totally rinsed Bruno 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

He’s slow midfield is just as much about timing your interventions. If someone sprinting onto the ball and you’re facing the wrong way you’re dead. 

[James]

I do think he needs a game or two off, he’s tired

[JT24]

2 minutes ago, James said:

I do think he needs a game or two off, he’s tired

I agree with this. 
 

I’d rest him this weekend. 

[Pilko]

He's not a player who tends to turn up against the bigger teams, sadly. I think his lack of pace is why he won't ever play for a truly elite team, as excellent as he is a player.

 

Even his goal record suggests it, clincher v Arsenal in his first few months aside it reads like that of a flat track bully.

 

Doesn't help that he plays virtually every minute of every game either, always seems to look tired as the season approaches it's end.

[Smal]

think he needs some time out of the team really. He’s even slower than usual and he’s really struggling to have any positive impact on games.

[TheBrownBottle]

It’s not so much the lack of pace as the slowness on the ball which is becoming an issue.  He was never the quickest - but he’s taken up the unnerving habit of dawdling on the ball before languidly playing a simple pass, allowing the opposition to move back into position. 

[nemtizz]

He's done wonders for this club and I love the man. He's also one of the main reasons our midfield is sliced through with ease. A RCB that isn't slow as shit should help but won't solve it.

 

We have far too many CMs to justify signing another, but if we can shift Longstaff and Willock it should be looked at. Peak delusion I know as PSR, and we need a GK and a right winger.

[TRon]

56 minutes ago, James said:

I do think he needs a game or two off, he’s tired

 

He should definitely be rested, tired or not. Lewis Miley is a tailor made replacement anyhow, this is where Howe needs to use his squad.

[The Butcher]

Time to give him a wee rest like.

[huss9]

have him on the bench against brighton then he has over a week off.

[Lush Vlad]

16 hours ago, Mazzy said:

 

He's been average recently and we're just used to him being very good I think thats perhaps the best way I can describe it. 

 

Not up to his usual high standards.

 

I've often thought his level was basically a 7/10 every week without even playing well.  So any slight drop off and he looked crap.  When actually he was still fine and often one of our better players. I'd sometimes say it in games myself, massively taking for granted all the good he did.  As you'd then watch highlights back and wonder what you were watching live and he looked like the MOTM    

 

But recently I think it is more than that.  He has looked jaded and as @TheBrownBottle said.  Seems to take an age to shift the ball, more so than before.  A few times last night he was fortunate to win the foul or genuinely be fouled.  As he had just lost it or was about to lose it.  

 

He still has that brilliant ability to find a yard of space when he has no right to and that was on show a number of times again last night.  Not comparing their ability as players.  But it reminds me of Fabregas, who was also a pretty slow player.  Just a couple of neat touches and a body feint and he's goal side or away from the man trying to tackle him.

 

There is of course the fact that Big Joe is missing and teams now have plenty of tape on Bruno further forward and Tonali in the old Bruno role.  So they will have found out ways to play round/through us.  Whilst also nullifying what we're trying to do going forward.  Tonali hasn't been anywhere near his previous levels the last few weeks, either. 

[Yorkie]

Thought he was brilliant in the Arsenal home leg but his performances have definitely dipped a bit. I thought it would happen sooner tbh; was worried he might burn out a bit after playing football constantly since he signed. 

 

He has these dips though, then picks up again. It wasn't that long ago that we were all crowing about how he'd been unleashed thanks to Sandro, whose drop-off recently has definitely been more stark. Hope that spell of his wasn't a flash in the pan; still has an awful lot to prove here. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Saying he’s 7/10 every week is incredibly weird for someone who’s been considered one of the best CMs in the league. 
 

I think we need to take a breath and remember that Liverpool are absolutely mint. 

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by AyeDubbleYoo

[Lush Vlad]

20 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Saying he’s 7/10 every week is incredibly weird for someone who’s been considered one of the best CMs in the league. 
 

I think we need to take a breath and remember that Liverpool are absolutely mint. 

 

 

 

 

Eh?  Read the whole paragraph next time.  

 

Also, I've said he'd be a 7/10 without even playing well.  As in, he's one of our better players and he set the bar really high.  So got flak when his performance dropped slightly.  Not really clear reading it back, TBF.

 

TL;DR - he is a victim of his own success and has set the bar too high.  So any drop off and an average game from him suddenly looks crap.  When in reality, most the time, it isn't/  

 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Lush Vlad

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Got you, sorry

[et tu brute]

I think the current form is down to the fact that he is again dropping to deep to get the ball. He hasn't got the legs to sit deep and then be involved in our attacking play. Maybe it's the fact that the midfield is not getting presented with the ball enough, with most of our play (certainly recently) going down the wings.

I also feel that other teams have sussed when he's sitting deep, he is the player responsible for orchestrating our play, and are now onto him straight away as soon as he gets the ball. He is then having to try and defend the ball before attempting to play the pass. This is happening constantly and most times he has the skill to do this, but he is very susceptible to having the ball taken off home, as we have seen a few times (costing goals also). I believe this is due to the lack of quality from the current central defenders to find our midfield (I covered this in the Botman thread).

 

His best form (he looked a class above) was when he was predominantly in the number 8 position during our great run. He was dictating play, creating chances, and also getting forward to be another body in the box. IMO Howe needs to ensure he is in a more forward position, where he can have a more direct effect on our attacking play. He looks shelved of confidence currently (as do quite a few to be fair) . 
 

[KingArthur]

When he moved more forward, he is automatically less on the ball. Against teams like City and Liverpool we are not really going to have a long time of settled possession for him to play his throughballs. 

Agree with many that he is so slow that he will not play for the true elite teams.

[ExiledGeordie]

He’s looked very sluggish to me recently. Definitely agree that when he’s further up the pitch he has a far greater impact on the game. I also

think he gets caught in possession far too much. 

[et tu brute]

Just now, KingArthur said:

When he moved more forward, he is automatically less on the ball. Against teams like City and Liverpool we are not really going to have a long time of settled possession for him to play his throughballs. 

Agree with many that he is so slow that he will not play for the true elite teams.

You're right he won't, but imo he is far more effective though when in a forward position. You mention about City and Liverpool, you're correct at their grounds, but at home we have more than taken the game to them and have been unfortunate not to beat either the last two seasons.