Which rival player does Bruno remind Scholesy of?

Friday 05 June 2020 15:59

Club legend Paul Scholes has likened the impact made by Bruno Fernandes on United to David Silva's influence on local rivals Manchester City.

Our former midfielder joined Stewart Gardner and ex-Reds Wes Brown, Ben Thornley and Danny Webber on the latest edition of the MUTV Group Chat on Friday (5 June), but was quick to distance himself from suggestions that he and Bruno shared similar characteristics.
 
Instead, the second-most successful Premier League player in history said he believed that the Portuguese star had helped to "knit" Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team together in the same way Spanish star Silva has done during the last decade with City.
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Scholes compared Bruno to Man City great David Silva.
“Sometimes it just takes one player to turn a team around and knit a team together,” explained Scholes. 
 
“I don't like talking about City but you think of David Silva at Manchester City – that player [that] links all the play together, and I think we've found him in Fernandes.
 
“He's totally transformed the team. It's gone from watching a little bit of a dull team, to one player coming in and all of a sudden they look like they're going to create, they look like they're going to score goals every time he's in possession of the ball.”
Manchester City had not won a top-flight title for 44 years before Silva and a raft of other signings helped take the Blues to the summit in 2012, and Scholes believes Fernandes – along with Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba – could help the Reds mount a similar challenge in the near future.
 
“He's fitted in straight away,” marvelled the Class of '92 star. “Nemanja Vidic and Evra really struggled for the first six to eight months. I think they signed in January. It wasn't until the season after where they really got used to it and picked up and went on to have really amazing careers. 
 
“But this lad, he's picked it up straight away, and it's been a real benefit. I keep saying he's transformed the team, but I really think he has.
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“He thinks goals, thinks about his centre-forward, whereas other players might be thinking sideways and backwards. He's constantly thinking about scoring goals and that's what Manchester United's all about. 
 
“You have to be excited as well with Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford coming back. He hasn't played with these players yet, and they're two of the better players in the squad, so the link-up between them two or three players... it could get even better. Fingers crossed.”
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However, the 45-year-old also had a word of caution for Pogba, ahead of the Frenchman's proposed return to first-team action, explaining that the form of the Reds' other midfielders would make it a challenge for him to immediately reclaim a starting berth.
 
"Paul has got a little bit of work to do to get into the team," suggested Scholesy.

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The legendary duo's former team-mate Luke Chadwick has had his say on one of the classic midfield debates.

“Before the outbreak happened and the stop happened, you have to say that the players that were playing – Matic, McTominay and Fred – they were really doing well in midfield.
 
“It's not going to be straightforward for Paul. He's got some work on his hands just to get back into the team. But we all know what Paul's capable of. He's a top player when he's on form. The better players you play with... surely that can only be to the benefit of the team.”

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