This is a bit performative, but Keane has been consistent in his criticism of the players at united showing absolutely no leadership or accountability for the last few years. There are senior players at that club being paid more in a week than most people make in 5 or more years, and they spend their time moaning at the refs, moaning at their teammates, etc.
Bruno gets is the most from Keane because Bruno is supposed to be the captain and the talisman, but Keane knows what leadership actually is, he’s seen the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, himself, Adams, etc. captain their clubs and drive their teams on through sheer will and leading by example.
Bruno’s example is fannying around, dropping to the ground like you’ve been shot, then moaning at the ref and waving your arms about. I said during Ole’s last season that United would never win major honors with Bruno in their club, and I’ve been proven right. Once they sell or sack off Bruno, they’ll have taken a big step forward as a club.
The fascinating thing about Bruno is that those who work with him tell stories of how incredible a worker he is. Apparently his fitness of the charts and is renowned to be the hardest trainer at the club and is constantly at the young players trying to help them install a good work ethic.
Leadership is a bit of a nebulous thing and often players who those on the outside give the label of being a great leader are viewed as no such thing by those who played with them. Dixon has commented on this misunderstanding over Vieira who he claims barely said anything to anyone and wasnt a particularly good example behind the scenes either (definitely not the Hendo style of day to day excellence that he expected his team mates to replicate). But you wanted him on your team because you knew when shit got hard he’d be there fighting harder than anyone.
Bruno seems to be the bizarro Vieira. He does all the right leadership stuff, but the moment you need him he fucks off.
Keane is dead right. Bruno has been the biggest , and most obvious , problem at that club from the day they made him captain. Hasn’t he just been given another fuck off contract recently too ?
They bought Bruno for something like 50 or 55M, and he was on a 5-year deal at 120k per week.
He had an incredible first season (Jan-May), but there was definitely a dropoff in his second season that was obvious to anyone with eyes. United’s brass responded by doubling his weekly earnings (to 240k per week) for no reason as he still had 3.5 years remaining on his original contract. Three years later, after being exposed for disappearing in big games and being extremely petulant and unreliable in building attacks, they re-upped his contract AGAIN and put him on over 300k per week.
United are in a prison of their own making, with a long string of unforced errors for the last 15 years bringing them to this point where they’re massively in the shit for the foreseeable future.
I’ve argued this with my United supporting friends for years. Bruno as leader is their biggest issue. He’s the worst captain I’ve ever seen. The 7-0 against us where he threw the towel in confirmed it
He’s 100% right. I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that a rebuild at Man Utd doesn’t start until they get rid of Bruno. Doesn’t matter that he’s talented, he’s a petulant coward and that set the tone for the whole squad.
Just want to echo the Bruno comments. He’s a wrong 'un. Of course he has some talent, but he will never roll up his sleeves in the face of adversity. He sulks and flails about.
The model Man Utd need to do to fix that club is to get an old school captain - not necessarily a rage machine like Roy Keane, but someone who absolutely demands the best out of his teammates, that they give their all, and he leads them by example.
With such a person to set the tone, they should then concentrate on developing and buying talented kids and pay them realistic amounts to try to get a handle on the obscene wages they pay to under-performing and usually older players.
More riches will come for the kids if they earn it. It’s the only way. They are giving away many millions to players who are not earning it.
The captain could be augmented by one or two others to help carry the correct culture and pour it into a new breed of youngsters.
Liverpool went and got James Milner. He was the tone setter in training everyday, demanding high levels. Many a training video saw him losing it at people for less than 100% effort and he carried with him the stature of being a man who had won everything, more or less, in football.
Van Dijk, Salah, Robertson and Alisson all seem to have developed into leaders through their tome at the club but I wonder how much of an influence Milner was on them.
