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Bruno Fernandes has always been a controversial figure since he joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020.
This can be seen in the recent fuss over the penalty they won against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup. Pundit Danny Murphy said the Portuguese midfielder’s reaction to the tackle was “horrible”, despite similar incidents happening up and down the country every weekend.
The Manchester Evening News describes the United captain as “the kind of player every fan in the country would love to have on their side, but naturally he comes under heavy criticism because he doesn’t play for his club.”
Furthermore, despite being the team’s top scorer this season, playing from midfield, many experts have questioned his suitability as captain and also his contribution to the goal total, as his team has worked to find the bottom of the nationwide network.
Troy Deeney even ridiculously suggested in December that the only positive thing about United’s upcoming trip to Anfield was that their captain was unavailable for selection due to suspension.
The question that arises then is whether the Portuguese international is scoring and assisting enough.
The Portuguese international’s electric start to English football is unlikely to have helped him in the long term, raising unrealistic expectations for a player who has regularly been tasked with playing throughout midfield and even at times in the band.
The midfielder scored 12 goals in his first six months at the club, followed by an outstanding haul of 28 goals and 17 assists during his first full season in 2020-21.
His numbers have been going down since then with ten goals and 14 assists in 2021/22 and 14 goals and 15 assists in 2022/23. These are still very impressive figures.
This season he has six goals and five assists to his name and leads his team in combined goal contributions. The context of these numbers becomes even more impressive considering that he has had to take on captaincy responsibilities in the current chaotic atmosphere at the club.
Furthermore, it has recently been reported that no English Premier League player has created more chances than Fernandes in the last calendar year, and that is by a long shot. The former Sporting Lisbon player was credited with a whopping 100 open play opportunities created in 2023 and the next player on the list was Mo Salah with 71.
Most chances created from open play in the Premier League in 2023:
100 – Bruno Fernandes999897969594939291908988786858483828180797877767574737271 – Mohamed Salah 7069 68 67 – Dejan Kulusevski
Watch the gap. ⚠ pic.twitter.com/CFlj2FXif1
– Squawka (@Squawka) December 27, 2023
It’s not his fault he has an insufficient supporting cast. Isn’t it difficult to imagine that the midfielder’s statistics would be even better if he was feeding Erling Haaland and had Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish helping him, so that he himself could bomb forward and take advantage of opportunities?
Would the prolific Norwegian score as prolifically if he was assisted by Antony and Marcus Rashford?
If we dig deeper into the xG stats, they also tell an important story.
The midfielder’s xG for the Premier League is 4.84 and he has scored 3 goals in the Premier League. His assists are also three, but his xA suggests he should be at 6.65. However, as we know, United’s forwards have relentlessly altered their lines this season. This is not the fault of the creators.
In his first three seasons at the club, Fernandes outperformed his xG and xA stats, most notably in the 2019/20 season, when he had 4.25 more assists than his xA suggested he should have had.
Bruno’s creativity last year also stood out with his xA. He finished the campaign with 8 league assists but according to statistics he should have given 17.27.
Once again, many players apart from Marcus Rashford struggled for goals last season. Don’t forget, he spent five months supporting Wout Weghorst.
In addition to his 100 chances created in open play, it stands to reason that he is, at worst, one of, if not the most productive assist players in the country.
To demonstrate how the quality of teammates can make a difference, Kevin de Bruyne finished the season last year with 16 assists. His xA? 16.32. Actually shorter than Fernandes. Haaland is worth having on your team. In addition, the Belgian scored seven goals to Bruno’s eight. (All statistics according to understat.com)
All in all, Bruno Fernandes is not the perfect player. He can be petulant, irritating, and erratic upon passing away. On the other hand, he is also one of the few United signings who has really worked after the Sir Alex Ferguson era and has consistently led the team in goal contributions since he arrived on these shores.
Maybe it’s time we appreciated one of the few players who has actually stood up to be counted on in a United shirt more often than not.
