{"id":8031,"date":"2025-09-19T07:24:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/19\/farrah-williams-column-why-bruno-fernandez-struggles-with-survival-hopes-for-reuben-amorims-manchester-united-system-and-london-city-lioness\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T07:24:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:24:49","slug":"farrah-williams-column-why-bruno-fernandez-struggles-with-survival-hopes-for-reuben-amorims-manchester-united-system-and-london-city-lioness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/19\/farrah-williams-column-why-bruno-fernandez-struggles-with-survival-hopes-for-reuben-amorims-manchester-united-system-and-london-city-lioness\/","title":{"rendered":"Farrah Williams Column: Why Bruno Fernandez struggles with survival hopes for Reuben Amorim’s Manchester United System and London City Lioness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former England International Fara Williams will provide exclusive insights and analysis of TNT Sports for its 2025\/26 campaign. In her second column, she analyzes why Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandez couldn’t find his best form in a deeper role this season, and explains how Reuben Amorim makes some tweaks to his formation to succeed at Old Trafford. Watch the Women’s and Men’s FA Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League live on TNT Sports and Discovery+.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fernandez exposed in the middle of the two <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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After watching Manchester United this season, I don’t think Bruno Fernandez can’t play in that deep role, so I don’t think it’s natural for him. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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When he plays an advanced role, he feels his best qualities are on display, and he was one of Man UTD’s best players in that position, especially over the years last season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Bruno has been the most effective offensive player since joining the club, but when he plays midfield with the two, you take a lot out of his game. I don’t think Reuben Amorim is making the most of Bruno, which has led to a lot of complaints from players. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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He appears to be unable to influence games in those deeper fields, and he is exposed in those defensive situations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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When I began my career, I was in 10th place and later returned to that 6th place after a better understanding of the game. In that role, it’s all short and sharp movements, reading the game and predicting what’s going on right in front of you. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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It is also important to communicate well with the backline, which are of different qualities compared to playing as No. 10. There, we think about the media, move to half the space and link with the forward player. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There are also risk and reward factors. Because when you’re playing at a higher position, you can take more risks with the type of passes you play. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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When I played as No. 10 and someone was running out of my shoulder, I knew my teammates would sponsor me to cover me, but before you know it, you miss your runner, you miss your runner, you miss your runner, you’re behind the net. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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We saw the situation at Bruno on Sunday for Mann City’s first goal from Phil Foden. As a holding midfielder, you see the player trying to escape you. You need to recognize everything, but as number 10, you are playing a game of cats and mice and trying to pull your opponent to a place where they get uncomfortable. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Bruno is an intelligent player and we’ve seen him play for Portugal in the middle of the two, but Man UTD plays very differently. He seems to be struggling even more when the game grows, and that’s true for any player. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There’s a big gap between the backline and the highly exposed midfield pairing, as players know that Man UTD center half won’t jump into those spaces. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I don’t want to play in that midfield right now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Stubborn” Amorim can easily fix system issues<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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For managers entering the Premier League, they are very quickly aware that they need to be able to adapt, and Amorim is clearly not ready to adapt his style. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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He is very stubborn about his philosophy and the way he wants to play, but if you want to do it, you need to find the best player for your system. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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I think it’s easy to fix if he changes personnel in the system or makes some tweaks. He wants to play this 5-2-3, and in the Premier League, if the game grows, he can be exposed in the middle of the two. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Amorim: I play my own way, I’m not going to change<\/p>\n
Video Credits: SNTV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In my opinion, you can adapt it by adding an extra body to the midfield with Bruno and playing two before as No. 10, and try out the best two midfielders between Cobbie Mine, Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In the wingback area, he needs to find the most suitable player who can push up and become aggressive. Looking at the back three, I think Lukeshaw is given too many opportunities and he’s well above his best. But I think Amorim has to find a way to adapt. And I think a few tweaks will help the team. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Man Utd was in the game with Etihad before collapsed in the second half, but I think Amorim will hold on to something positive. He thinks his team is far from being very good, but on the other hand, he is far from being very poor. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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United are in a really good position, and it’s the small margins that are sacrificing them, especially in their defense. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The problem is that if you can’t get results with clubs as big as Man UTD, you’ll get problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
London City is “too good”<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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I was impressed by the London City Lioness for my first 20-25 minutes at Arsenal. They were really offensive in terms of their style and the press, playing with the back five and being competitive. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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They felt they struggled, especially when Arsenal began to adapt to Arsenal’s rotation from the front, but they didn’t know how to counter it. They quickly learned that the game could escape from you very quickly. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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London City’s Lioness is suffering from a fierce defeat in two opening WSL games.<\/p>\n
In the second game they switched to back 4 against Man UTD, and ended up opening up a lot of space for United. I feel their team is mature and has enough experience to stay in the league without a doubt. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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They had two very tough opening games, and they cannot be too discouraged by them, and they now have their “welcome to the WSL” match. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Managers also learn a lot about formation change and adaptation throughout this WSL journey, but I think the team is too good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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