It's no secret that Bruno Fernandes is pretty much the engine of Man Utd. With the ability to constantly run and give his all every minute of every game (literally), the MUFC skipper is a player whom the team and coaches have come to rely upon for many years.
His ability to almost always be available is a skill in itself especially in this day and age where players get injured left, right and centre.
However, does all of this work against him?
Ever since he joined United back in January 2020, Bruno has been a mainstay in the team. He is arguably the first name on the team sheet other than the goalkeeper, since his move to Old Trafford.
All of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy and now Ruben Amorim have used the now 30-year-old in most (if not all) of their games in charge.
And when looking at the games and minutes he's played last season and this, we can see just how overused he truly is.
In the Carabao Cup last season, he was on the bench for the entire win over Crystal Palace but came on for the final 25 minutes in the 3-0 loss to Newcastle.
He played every minute of every game in the FA Cup, two of which went to extra-time.
In the league, Bruno started 35 of the 35 games he was available for as he did miss three matches because of suspension and injury - which is a rarity for the captain - with only the Brighton game on the final day seeing him substituted with 30 minutes remaining.
The Portuguese started and played every minute of all 6 Champions League matches as well.
For his country across the Euros and friendlies, Bruno was involved in 7 out of 9 games starting all of those 7. During the Euros, he was subbed after 74 minutes in Portugal's quarter final loss to France and played half of the game against Finland and 70 minutes against Croatia in the international friendlies.
This means that in total, Bruno's minutes played last season is 4954/5220 which is a percentage of 95%.
He only missed 7% of games last season.
In 26 possible games for him this season for club and country, Bruno was only on the bench for United's 7-0 thumping of Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. He was then brought on in the 28th minute. Against Leicester in the 5-2 win, he played the full 90.
In the league so far, the magnifico has started all 15 matches but was substituted in three of them which is more than in the whole of last season and didn't complete the full match against Spurs only because he picked up two yellows.
As for the Europa League, he missed the final 9 minutes in the 3-3 draw at Porto because of a second yellow which meant he was suspended for the draw at Fenerbahce. He played every minute of the other three games.
For Portugal this season, in the five friendlies he's featured in, Bruno played every minute of every game. The reason he didn't play the sixth was because of suspension.
Total minutes played so far this season - 2171/2340. This again means that he's featured in 93% of matches in 24/25.
Bruno's tally for club and country from the start of last season until this point this season reads - 7125/7560 minutes played, a percentage of 94%.
So other than two games last season where he somehow managed to get injured, which were his first games missed through injury in his ENTIRE career, the only other reason he doesn't play is because of suspension.
From the start of last season for club and country, Bruno was an unused substitute in just two matches. He was in the matchday squad of 56 matches last season and 26 this. Out of 82 games, he was only unused twice.
Ridiculous.
So is this a reason as to why we saw something a little strange on the weekend not only with him actually being substituted but also how his change affected the team.
Even in the games that he missed, we can see just how negatively it impacts the style of play.
We just don't look the same.
He is a key member of the squad for many reasons such as quality, experience and leadership. However, his quality at the moment just isn't at the level we know it can be and when it comes to leadership, he never really stands out when things go wrong.
That is when your leaders are truly needed.
But that in itself is a problem. If Bruno isn't leading the team, who is?
As I said, his quality for the last 18 months has not been at the level we know Bruno can reach. While he is still producing a lot of goals and assists and has found some form since Erik ten Hag's sacking (including a goal in the 3-2 defeat to Forest) it's still not consistent enough.
But when he came off in this game, we looked completely lost and had no chance of getting back into the game.
I agreed with the substitution because he wasn't playing well and did need to come off and with there being several options to replace him now that everyone is available, I thought that it was a good call from Ruben Amorim.
And then the subs came on and did fuck all. Zirkzee it was that replaced Bruno as one of the number 10s but he is nowhere near the quality of his captain especially in the CAM position despite Zirkzee being a new player.
What little quality Bruno is bringing at the moment disappears entirely when he isn't on the field. Even when he plays a little deeper, we lack that creativity in the final third because no one has that eye for a pass like he does.
But as he is playing so many minutes and needs a break which is something Amorim mentioned as after the defeat to Forest, the manager said that while his team was in need of a goal due to being down 3-2, he had to remove his skipper because "he was tired."
So even in a must-win situation where a player of Bruno's quality is required boss took him off because of fatigue.
The manager's problem is that even with an underperforming captain, once he's out the team, United struggle even more. None of the bench options appear to be good enough to do something to suggest that we would be okay if Bruno is not involved. The leadership that he brings also goes out the window once he is off the pitch.
This is a problem in itself for Amorim.
But Bruno isn't a big miss for just United because for Portugal, whenever he doesn't play, they seem to struggle as well. Now I'm not saying that it is all entirely down to Bruno not playing that United and Portugal have problems, but it is quite the coincidence that when he isn't involved, the two sides just don't look the same.
Without Bruno for club and country last season and so far this, the stats read:
Games - 8
Wins - 1
Draws - 3
Losses - 4
Goals - 5
United and Portugal have lost 50% of matches that Bruno hasn't played in and only scored 5 goals in 8 matches from the start of last season.
Bruno is known as a machine for playing all the time but that does work against him. He really has been looking very flat for a long time. Sometimes, I believe it's a good thing that he gets injured or suspended just to give himself a break because if he's available, not only does he start most of the time, he plays every minute.
This results in over-reliability of the captain as if he's not going to do something in the game, no one else seems to be able to either. Also, as he is always in the team, it means others are wasted on the bench and when they are called upon, they have no rhythm and need to get up to match speed resulting in a lack of quality from those players.
Utilization of the squad in that position is simply not good enough.
United have also been playing games on average every three days since the 22/23 season with Bruno involved in almost all of them.
MUFC's next game is on Thursday night in the Europa League away to Viktoria Plzen in Czech Republic, just a few days after losing to Forest. Ruben Amorim will look at that as a must-win game as his side are still not in the automatic qualification spots for the round of 16. United are 9th in the EL table. After defeat to Forest, this game at Plzen will be seen as an opportunity to get back on the horse.
He will also want to build some confidence because Sunday is the Manchester derby.
It's such a conundrum with Bruno because he isn't playing at the level we know he can but is still producing (5 goals and 8 assists for United this season), yet he is playing somewhat shit and I wouldn't mind him being on the bench sometimes. He could also use the rest.
But as we are a bit shit with him on the field and probably need to rotate him every now and then, we are somehow shitter without him. So can we rotate him?
So weird 🥴.
What would you do with Bruno Fernandes? Are club and country over reliant on him? Is he overplayed and is that a reason as to why we see these mediocre performances? What do you reckon?
Background Image: Bruno Fernandes | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal