How Bruno Fernandes Is Dominating The Premier League

[0:00]Bruno Fernandes has over 100 goals and 100 assists for Manchester United, becoming only the third player to reach this alongside Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney. It's time to raise a glass. I'll be breaking down how his movement helps him to score outrageous goals. We're going to touch on the way that he assists teammates from impossible positions and how he's added a new superpower to his game this season. Cheers, Bruno. So, how is Bruno Fernandes dominating the Premier League? Well, to understand this, let's begin with how he scored so many goals despite playing in midfield. Now, the first example here is Bruno showing his striker's instinct. Bruno Fernandez being an attacking midfielder means that he often gets involved in build-up. Now, have a look at Bruno here. He's already scanning ahead and he instantly targets the space. He's so smart, Bruno Fernandez, and because he's made this decision early, the defenders don't have the time to react. When the ball arrives to Bruno, he already knows that he has no real passing options, so instead of taking a touch and allowing the Burnley defenders time to recover, he hits it instantly and scores. He's also mastered the art of going completely untracked by the opposition. The ball gets played into midfield here. Bruno recognizes there's a Fulham player between himself and the ball, so immediately looks to move into space to receive the pass. He gives the ball carrier a passing option in the opponent's half, but he's ignored. And this is where his understanding of space comes into play. Rashford, as the striker, has moved away from the opponent's back line here, and the ball is then passed to Fred. But now Man United don't have anyone threatening the Fulham back line, so Bruno makes this run to penetrate the space behind. With the Fulham players focused on the ball, Bruno's run goes undetected, and with Bruno being able to then rely on his composure to increase the goal scoring chance. Bruno is surrounded by three Palace players here but still manages to create space for himself. He realizes there's not much space ahead of him to target and slows down his run. So, when the Palace players drop deep into the box, space is created for Bruno. He takes a touch to stop the ball dead and generates power behind his strike to score. Bruno Fernandes once again stops in his tracks to become a passing option here, and the ball is switched to the left hand side. But have a look at Bruno Fernandez. He's walking. That's because he knows a little bit more. Most players would be sprinting, but Bruno, he's assessing the space, the time, and he calmly jogs into the area. Once Dalot gets the ball, Bruno instantly picks up speed and calls for it. Bruno arrives onto the ball, rather than being stationary in the box. Importantly, he recognized his teammate was 1v1 with the defender and could create an overload in this area. And this is a principle that he still uses right up to today. As you can see here, the ball gets moved out wide and all of the Man United players, apart from Bruno, are looking at the ball. But Bruno is in fact looking at the position of Benjamin Sesko. The ball gets played into the box. Bruno notices that Sesko is occupying the defender, so moves in behind him to take advantage and score. He even does this from positions where you may not expect him to be. And we need to use the wide angle to truly appreciate this one. Man United have four players on the right hand side here, allowing for quick exchanges. But all the way on the other side, there he is, Bruno Fernandez, who is staying out of it. Bruno shows proactive movement here, staying on the blind side of the defender, and he capitalizes on this brilliantly. Bruno factors in his understanding of movement all the time. He utilizes and leans into that instinct. The ball gets played into him here and several Man United players begin making runs into the box. The Sheffield United defenders are cautious of these movements and Bruno quickly realizes this and instead of looking to force the pass, he quickly takes the shot with his weaker foot, making it 3-2 in the last 10 minutes of the game. Bruno even uses his understanding of space when Man United don't have possession. In this instance, he's marking Liverpool's defensive midfielder, preventing the ball being played inside. Now, with limited forward options, Liverpool are forced to turn back. Bruno quickly leaves the defensive midfielder and anticipates where the pass is going to be played. He also understands that there's not many passing options surrounding him. But he also spots the goalkeeper, Kelleher, is off his line and he takes full advantage of it to score from 45 yards. The ball gets switched to Dalot here, but Bruno Fernandez is playing the game three seconds ahead of anyone else. And this scan that he makes here is crucial in this. He arrives in attack and is instantly a passing option. Now, Dalot doesn't give it to him, and instead beats his man. Bruno then scans his surrounding once more, and now he knows what's going to happen. He realizes that all of the Leicester City defenders are dropping deep. So Bruno comes to an absolute standstill, generating space for himself without even moving. And by doing that, he gives himself ample room to shoot. He then uses a specialist technique, hitting the ball with a follow through in the direction that he wants it to travel, meaning that the ball is always curving away from the goalkeeper and ends up in the goal. This is Bruno's favorite part of the pitch. It's known as Zone 14 and Bruno Fernandez is really unstoppable within it. Firstly, he's able to squeeze a pass through to his teammate, but after some pinball in the box, it comes back to him. But I need to give you some context here. It's it's sorely needed. So, let's remember, the score was nil-nil and this, this was the 90th minute. And so, in an instance like this, a lot of players would produce a rushed shot here. But instead, Bruno understands and embraces the moment. And he fakes the shot, taking out two Fulham players, highlighting the composure that he has in these kind of moments. And any shot to the left of the goal would be likely blocked. So Bruno makes a last minute adjustment, guiding the ball to the bottom right hand side to score. But it's not just about the goals with Bruno, 100, 100, 100 goals, 100 assists. And his assists are absolute genius. He's now set a record for Manchester United this season, registering 16 assists in a single Premier League season, beating the previous record held by David Beckham. Sir David Beckham, actually. And he did it all the way from back here. In this game, Manchester United lined up with Bruno as the central attacking midfielder. But when Mateus Cunha moved into central positions, Bruno often moved into wider areas. But why did he do that? He's not a dribbler, he's not a winger. Well, the ball hasn't even reached Bruno's feet yet, but look at Cunha. He's already making the run in anticipation, and Bruno, of course, has spotted it. He plays a through ball to Cunha without hesitation. It's a stunning pass, and in particular the weight of the pass is just perfect. Cunha doesn't have to readjust or take a touch on the run, and he's just able to get the strike away. And of course, he scores, providing that 100th assist for Bruno. Stunning way to do it. But this season, Bruno has consistently been creating chances from deep areas. Crystal Palace clear the ball here, and it falls to Bruno Fernandes. With one look into the box, he sees Sesko ready for the cross, and that early cross means that the Palace defenders are dropping towards their own goal, whilst trying to track the flight of the ball. Really, really difficult. The cross is perfect. Exactly what strikers like Sesko are craving for. But the genius of Bruno, it's spotting passes and executing them in a way that very few can. Don't believe me? Check this out. This was way back in 2023. Remember then? Yeah, and Bruno, he's actually deep once again. And look what happens once he gets the ball. Within space of half a second, he takes a touch, opens up his body and scans the area all at once. He spots Rashford and uses the outside of his right foot to get the ball over the defense directly into the space behind where Rashford goes on to finish. And even when attacking the box, he's always been able to go undetected. Man United win the ball and Bruno starts all the way back on the halfway line. As you may have gathered by now, this guy knows before anyone else where the space is going to develop. He has incredible vision, so he angles his run to attack that area. People talk about midfielders and how they have vision. When we're talking about vision, it's about seeing pictures that will then kind of come to be. And Bruno Fernandes sees things that normal footballers don't. He plays it into an area that is impossible for Ericsson to miss. And for me, the magic of Bruno Fernandez is that sometimes you're not even sure how he's even seen the pass. Here, he takes a look over his right shoulder. So when he gets the ball, he already knows what's going on behind him. He has that picture. He turns and plays it into Martial before any Everton defender can make a challenge. And with the pass, he gives Martial the space that he needs to lift it over the goalkeeper. Bruno is almost impossible to defend. He always knows what's going on around him. Check him out here, moving into a central area, and he quickly realizes that there are no Burnley players pressing on him. And when Bruno shapes up to pass the ball here, you think it's impossible, right? There are two Burnley players between him and the ball, and any balls in behind should in theory be swept up by the goalkeeper. But the pass, oh, it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. It misses the first defender by a matter of inches, which is always a gorgeous thing to see. The weight is also perfect, meaning that the goalkeeper is hesitant to come and claim it himself. But it also allows Sesko to hit it first time and put it away, allowing him to be a better goal scorer for the team. Bruno is in possession here, and he has so many different factors to consider. He has several passing options. There are multiple Wolves defenders back, and he's about to be pressed. Is that enough for you? But he's able to see through all of this to see the ideal pass. He spots the run of Mason Mount, putting it into a horrible area for Wolves to defend and making it impossible for the goalkeeper to come and claim. Bruno's passes can even break the strongest of defensive structures. Aston Villa have a flat back five and have congested the center of the pitch, but Bruno's genius lies in his ability to force spaces to appear even when nobody else can see them, playing a ball over the entire Villa defense here for Ahmad to head home. But sometimes Bruno's real intelligence is knowing when not to pass. Man United are counter-attacking here and have a four versus two scenario. Bruno carries the ball and shifts slightly to the right, allowing Umbo to shift to the left. He opens up his body, making it extremely difficult for Man City defenders to anticipate the direction of the pass, and that creates space for Umbo to receive. It's so difficult for Man City to cover the shot and Umbo scores. Bruno's sensational in open play, but Bruno's set piece assists have actually catapulted him to new levels this season. He's currently on nine set piece assists this season. Stephen Gerard currently holds the record for a single season with 11. And in swinging corners, they're common now because they allow teams to attack the goalkeeper. But Bruno Fernandes, he goes against that trend here. Man United overload the front post and Bruno delivers a perfect cross. It's so hard to do this and keep the ball in play. There's such a subtlety to it. He puts in this perfect cross into this area and Casemiro heads towards the back post, which is left completely free. And even from free kicks, the common theme is that Bruno Fernandes looks to target the front post. And his delivery is perfect for Casemiro once more, and he moves in front of the defense to score. But this isn't possible when the ball is in this position. Bruno's ability to be precise, I mean, it comes in so handy. The height he puts on the cross makes it difficult for the full and players to get a solid contact on the ball. Whilst making it easy for Casemiro to run onto it and score. And this is a principle that Man United use from in swinging corners too. Bruno puts a lot of height on the ball, and that makes it really difficult for opponents to track the flight of it, whilst man marking their opponents. And Casemiro, that man, once again, pops up at the back post this time and is unchallenged.