Bruno Fernandes: Manchester United Loyalty & Leadership | Refs Told Me To Stop Waving My Arms!

0:00Are you really buying a car online on AutoTrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers. Wow, your search can really get that specific. Really? And you just put in your info and boom. Cars in your budget. Mom needs a second, honey. You can really have it delivered? Really. Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car. Mommy, look! Uh, I think your kid is walking up the slide. Kyle, again? Really? AutoTrader. Buy your car online. Really? I've come to Manchester United's training ground to see Bruno Fernandes, a player, a man who does most of his talking on the pitch.

0:39But recently he's had some things to say to the media. So I wanted to come and see for myself how he reflects on his time at the club so far. Plus I get some amazing insight from inside of the dressing room. And for all those haters out there, I've been saying for years, Bruno is not the problem. So let's see a different side to the man who's one of the game's most talked about players. Let's go.

1:10Hey, how are you? Good to see you man. You good? You alright? I'm good, thank you. You good? All good? Early man. You lot getting early compared to when we used to get in. I just arrive a little bit early. I like to do things a little bit slowly. Just chill out, coffee. Coffee, stay a little bit in the restaurant there. Chat. Chat a little bit, yeah. Also, normally I wake up with a kid, so... Oh, do you? Not today. Today they were asleep still. How many do you have? Two. How old are they now? Five and eight. Oh, that's nice. You're going to have more or not? No. You're done, yeah? Boy and a girl, so...

1:43Oh, you're done. You're perfect now then. You can relax. It was perfect timing for them to come and perfect pair. So no more. Do we have a potential young Bruno to play football? That's all he does, playing football. Is it? Yes. But now I'm like, I want to chill out on the sofa. He's like, I want to play football with you. Oh my God. So football for work, football at home. Yeah, all the time. And he can't play with anything else. Doesn't play with toys, doesn't play with cars, doesn't play with just the ball. That's a dream though, man. That's a dream. It is a dream. It is. I know you must sit there sometimes looking at him and thinking, oh, that's my boy.

2:18Yeah. No, that's it. And you know when you see him shooting and stuff like that, you're doing some stuff that he starts learning and stuff. Yeah, yeah. He's improving, he's improving. I see a future there. Pension, pension. My pension's going to be better. No, it's good, man. Do you know what? It's mad. I was on the way up here and I was looking and thinking that you just overtook Paul Scholes third in assists. In assists, yeah. That's ridiculous. Yeah. When you think about it like that. It's a good number. Do you know what I mean? And the names that you're around, like Giggsie, Waza. Giggsie is a little bit far.

2:47Yeah, Giggsie's far. When I saw Giggs, I was like, how long has he played here? I knew he played long here, but that's a big, big number for me. You must be proud, though, of that, because of the names. And then, obviously, Paul Scholes was like, everyone speaks about him on the ball and passing range and all that stuff. And then, obviously, the ones I have above me is Beckham. Just pure class, quality crosses and stuff like that. Then he's Giggs is first, but we have some... Waza, I think Waza. Is Waza there, yeah. And obviously another one that like, graft running a lot for the other ones and then still making numbers very high.

3:30It's unbelievable. It's crazy because we had Giggsie on the show a while ago and I sat down with him and he mentioned three values of Man United player. Run, risk, imagination. And when I thought about that, I just thought, I think that actually is Bruno. The running side, I think it always comes by the type of person that you are and stuff like that. But I think that should be mandatory in any club, not at Man United. I think that is the least you can do because then quality-wise you can have a good game, a bad game, that can happen. But I think intensity-wise that can never drop. you can have a game where you have less energy or whatever but you always have to give the max of the energy that you have for the game and I think as for the past of the club that should be mandatory when you bring a player in it's like we need this from you then we know how much quality we have we know how much goals you can score how much goals you can save whatever it is but this is mandatory at the club like this running sacrifice help the team this is mandatory then quality wise we know that you're going to have times, moments and stuff like that.

4:45But if you have that one, we'll be here to help you in that. You mentioned risk. How important is risk to Bruno Fernandes' game? I need to take that risk on last pass, the cross, the shot, everything around my game. It's very important that I help the team with that because that's, for me, one of my main qualities. So if I lose that taking risk side, I will lose a little bit of De Bruno as a player. So I think also like that was when I came to the club and obviously I had Ole as a manager that was a player for the club. And the first thing he said to me, I want you to get on the ball. I want you to take risks.

5:24I want to see De Bruno I saw at Sporting. I want to see it here. So in my head was, okay, they brought me because they saw something in me that will be fitting into this club. So I can't change. I just can improve that. and obviously you have to know when taking the risks and when is the best time to take that risk. Obviously now playing in a different position even if what the manager demands from me in the last third is to be more high on the pitch and play basically as a 10 between the lines. Obviously in the build-up I'm very deep so I have to be careful with the risks that I take there but when we go into the final third the manager wants me to get out of that position and get into the 10th position.

6:07So then from there, you want the creativity that I need to have to help the team to score goals and create something. How does it affect you or does it affect you at all when you hear sometimes, because I know you read and see and listen to media, Arun, he takes too many risks sometimes and maybe he's just looking at stats, etc. I don't agree, but I'd like to know what you think. No, if I was smart, I wouldn't take risks because the risk is I can get reward or I can get the other side of that. So if I don't take the risks, no one will ever say that, oh, Bruno is losing the ball or Bruno missed the pass.

6:45So I will just play ball side to side, play backwards and I will be safe. But I'm not a safe player because I know if I start doing that, I won't be helping the team. And I take the risk because I want to help Josh and Ben to score goals. I want to help Kouinga, Mason, Brian, Ahmad, all these creativity players that we have up front to score goals. That's what I need to do for them to be able to become the players we want them to be. It's not for me because if I don't take that risk, I think the ones suffering more from that will be them and not me because I will be the one that people won't talk anymore about, oh, he's losing so many times the ball, oh, his percentage of passing accuracy is like 98 % now.

7:28But then I will look at my passes, will be sideways, backwards, and I'm not affecting the game and not helping my teammates to get in positions when they can be dangerous. That's the answer I wanted. Good. Can you pass me my phone, please? I've got something I wanted to play to you. It's mad because we put it, we've got a chat, yeah, that we have with the community that we have and one of the guys played sent me a message. I wanted to hear it. Yo, I'm Finn. I'm 27. I've been a United fan my whole life and now I just want Bruno to know that every proper red that I speak to thinks you're a legend mate all that noise from media and then agenda merchants online none of them really represent us we see the graph the running the work rate you're the one that's taking the risk trying to create trying to make things happen so of course a few idiots are always going to moan that's just part of being the main man and the arm waving just shows you care so ignore the tots online keep doing your thing you make us proud do you feel that from the fans yeah i i do feel because Because obviously I know the surrounding, like the social side of it is obviously normally more negative than positive, but that's what it makes impactful in the clicks.

8:41Because if you put something nice, people really don't want to see it. So if you put like a big headline that is kind of negative, people are like, oh, let's see what he said, you know. So obviously in the stadium I feel it. I do feel that the fans are behind me. they see what I do, they see how much I care about the club, how much I want to win. And, you know, like the thing that probably hurts me the most when I see people talking about me is when they say like it doesn't run, it doesn't track, it doesn't really fight and everything. Because obviously, you know, like nowadays you have all the information.

9:18So if they go and take all the information they get from the stats thing, there's probably not many games were players that run more than me in distance, high speed, accelerations, accelerations, all these things that we have around. And this for me is not the most important thing because I know how much I run. I know how much I try and I fight and I try to do. But I think it hurts a lot because you feel like you come out of the game. There's no game I come out and I'm like, oh, I could play another game today. No, there's no chance of it. Everything is gone. Everything is gone every time. and feeling that people think that, oh, he should have run more, he should have done more.

9:56Sometimes it really hurts. That's the main thing that hurts me a little bit more. But then, obviously, you see, as he said, I know that the fans that go to the stadium, they see me there, they see how much I care, how much I do. I think it's nice to feel that even when I come out of games and I tried to every time sign the people that are outside. Never had like any confrontation of someone saying like I should have done more and I'm not against it obviously. I come out of the game and I always think that I should have done more even if I had a trick, if I had assists, if I had whatever. I always try to look at myself and like I should have done better here, better there and I'd rather see that when we win games than when we lose games because when we lose games everything is negative already in my head.

10:42When we win games you tend to be like oh so happy so like relax that I think is very important to pinch yourself a little bit like you could have done better here and then obviously it's very difficult for for a player to have the feeling of like they they don't really see it what I do in like you know like the the waving thing when I came to the club in my first few games I had that and and I've seen obviously in the first few games and I just arrived obviously you guys ex-players talking about us and everything obviously I just came to the club. I've looked all my life at you. And till now, legends for the club, guys that I'm looking up to.

11:22And then some of you in the first few games were like, oh, look at him, pointing at his teammates, telling them where to go. This is what a proper captain leader does. And then obviously after two years, three years, people were like, oh, he's always waving his arms. He's always mourning. He became like, from a positive thing, he became a negative one. So this is what I mean, is the perspective that people give to it. So in the first moments were very good. I was demanding from the players and everything. And now it's like a little bit negative because obviously the results haven't helped much.

11:53And it looks like, oh, it's negative. It's moaning. And I get it. It's normal. It's the perspective that everyone puts into it. Do you have to manage your emotions? I've played with players that really just care so much that sometimes they run. And maybe sometimes it's not the right type of running. Have you had to manage yourself in that sense? No, that's for sure. And I still do sometimes that type of mistakes that you want to do so much. Or you think like when you're losing, you think that you're going to solve all the problems. And I had this conversation with the manager already, not just him, but with Eric also.

12:31They always like, they really care about me as a person. So they talked to me. Both of them were very good with it. and they said, Bruno, I know you're doing this because you care so much, but you need to pass the responsibility to others. You can't be yourself trying to solve all the problems because you end up putting yourself in a bad position. And obviously we come back to the criticism and stuff because I'm trying to overdo things and obviously it becomes overcomplicated and I put myself in a position that is not good for me. And I had one person that one time, you probably know him very well, Dejan Stankovic.

13:07He was my assistant at Udinese. And one time he came to me, I was, Udinese, I was already like that. I wanted the ball. I wanted to do something. Try to pick the ball and create something. And he came to me and said, Bruno, you need one thing. Sometimes, when things are not going very well, you need to put yourself aside of the game. Get the ball, pass the ball backwards, get your confidence back. Get the ball, play simple, get your confidence back. And he was like, I look at him in the beginning, I was like, oh, you don't want me to take the ball. Then I start realizing I'm talking with Dejan Stankovic, I played for big clubs, won massive trophies, was a top player.

13:44So I might need to listen to one or two things that he's telling to me. And I start to realise from there, and obviously I try to, here and there, try to put my things in the right place. But obviously sometimes the emotions go and you can't control everything. I want to move on to the way you're playing. and you've obviously taken up a bit more of a deeper role this season, especially like you said, in the beginning phases of the play when you're in possession. What have you found difficult or different so far in that? I mean, I saw earlier in the season when it first happened when I think it might have been Foden ran off you for one goal.

14:21So, and I look at that and go, that's a lot, you've got to learn, it's just learning, being in that position, not being there a lot. What's been the big difference for you? Obviously, it's different because as a number 10, you're very used to press forwards and it's more like you press from the number six to the centre back or from the number six you could like just stand him behind him and screen him and obviously there in the position I play because I'm as the eight let's say the manager always plays a six and eight let's say like the six normally is more Kaz and Manu the eights is more me and Kobe so So from me and Kobe, it demands more of a thing of staying in position, pressing the six or coming back, pressing a little bit high, coming back.

15:07You need to be able to cover more ground. But with all that being said, I looked at some stats, man, doing some research and this season you're actually playing deeper, but you're creating more chances. 2.4 chances created every game last season compared to 2.9 this campaign. You're also leading the Premier League midfielders in all of these categories. Most shot-creating actions, through balls, goal-creating actions, goal involvements, assists and most chances created, which is 45, and only one player in Europe has more, and that's Kylian Mbappe. From the deeper role. Yeah, but as I said to you, I start from a deeper role in the building phase, but then And the manager wants that number eight between me and Kobe, that's being the ones that train there in my position, to be free in the luster to get into the 10 position because he wants to have the pockets occupied.

16:04It's more for me and Kobe to understand the moments of danger is coming. We're not kind of creating, so we need to drop. Let's play a little bit more in a deeper role. Let's get in the position. But the manager really wants us in that high position. So he gives me the chance still to create, to be creative. To be honest, my set pieces have been much more accurate this season. Also, that's why I think the chances created have increased a lot. The movement in the box from the players also is helping me. The place where we're putting the ball is working well for every game. We have a different plan, it's been working well.

16:40So that also helps in the chance created. But still, for me, the most important one that is set there for the position I'm playing and for what the manager demands from me is the true balls. Because that's the one I have to play the most. Because playing with tents, playing with a striker, playing with wing-backs, you need to be able to put the balls in the middle. And I think that is why the manager wants me there also, like in that position. Because you know that I'm going to play the ball forward and putting the ball into the pockets for Kouinha, Mason, Brian, Ahmad and Josh that sometimes can play there also.

17:13they're very good into the half turn and then attack the defenders, getting the last pass also. So I just need to be very accurate on serving them and putting the balls through the spaces. Just on that point, it was later in my questions, but you brought me there now. Just in terms of like, when the ball comes to you on the pitch, now you're playing a bit deeper in the early phase or in the 10th position, what is going through Bruno's mind? Because you're someone who's creating chances at a rate that we've not seen. De Bruyne has been here in the same time that you've been here. You've created more chances in the same amount of games in that time.

17:49What comes into your mind as the ball is coming into you? Are you thinking, let me just keep the ball or is your first thing, where can I hurt the opposition and then work back from that? To be honest, obviously when the manager shows the videos, I'm very careful of looking where the space could be, which one is the centre back that doesn't like to jump on our 10s. Because obviously normally either they mark their 10s with the midfielders and he's going to be a main man and they're going to open the middle so the striker will be the one for me to serve. Then if they want to very squeeze their back line, the wing backs will be my exit.

18:24And then obviously if the midfielders are the ones jumping on us, for me it's like more to connect with my midfielder than us to have to try to find the pockets with the 10. So my first aim is always to play the ball forward. And then obviously always depends, as the manager says, I think when now teams want us to play more from the back and wants us to have the ball to try to hurt on the counter. So in that term there, I think I need to go, when they're not pressing really our centre-backs and stuff, I need to leave them to be the ones to be creative. they need to take the responsibility of like I need to be the one putting the ball into the middle Do you find it hard still being the one in to do everything?

19:06I find it hard because obviously as a centre-back I know not everyone feels very comfortable of passing this ball through the middle between lines because it's a difficult ball and it's a risky one even sometimes not looking like a massive difficult I think the players like you in the past there was one of the centre-backs that everyone talked about your quality on the ball in this kind of passes you know how tough it is to play these balls. Obviously, people look and say like, oh, it's so good. Look at that. But they don't know how difficult it is to just, I know it's like a straight pass in a line, but the gaps are very small.

19:38So it is very difficult to do it. But we have players in the back line. They have qualities to do that. So I need to trust them to like when they don't have pressure even more, like if they have pressure, I just need to come for a bounce and try to help them to get out. If they don't have pressure, Luke Shaw, Lissandro Martinez, Mata, Lenny Oro, Age, even Masraoui, Aiden. These players, they all have qualities to play. Aiden played the last game against Wolves. I know Wolves is struggling and everything, but he did some passes between players and everything that were a risky one. It gives you time again.

20:13It gives you time and space for the ones that are in front. We control it because we know they beat three players with one pass, so we know they have less than us there. So we turn and we can see the game and it's so important, this type of passes. That needs to be my first thinking. Just mentioning consistency and the run you've been on in terms of creativity has been phenomenal. How do you remain that consistent? Because I know it's like as a player when you're playing at a club like this, whether you're doing well or not, there's standards, there's pressure, there's voices, there's noise outside.

20:46But to remain that consistent, especially through the difficult times the club's been going through. How have you done that from definitely from a mental side of things? No, obviously for me it's always about having like a balance in the things. I really like when you guys speak very well about me. Obviously I don't like when you guys speak bad about me so I need to find the balance in a line where like okay it's gonna be moments that you're not gonna be doing everything well and people will criticize you and that's normal. There will be times where you're to do well and people will say very good things about you so you can't just like go with the flow because if not you're going to be up and down so for me it's like uh even like when someone criticizes me i i look at it if i see something that someone said about me about my game like oh he's not very good at this he's not doing very well this i go and look at that because obviously even more for me when he's from ex-players i think i look at it and say like okay they've played the game, they've seen the game.

21:44Let's see if what they're saying can help me to improve my game. As when you guys probably, when you speak well about me, I try to not overlook that because I think as a human being, not as a player, as a human being, you tend to be like relaxed, like, oh my God, look at this. And obviously we know, as I said before, we talk about legends of the club, legends of the game, not just normal players. So it's really important for us to understand that the balance that we have to keep in the things that we heard and the things that people think about us is very important. And obviously, I think having my wife at home is very good because she keeps me very grounded.

22:24Get inside. No, you know, like when I come home and obviously you score a goal and stuff like that. And she goes, she's a little bit like my dad was when I was a kid. Like, you know, you come out of a game, you score, you did something. And she goes like, oh my god, you did something in the game. That was horrendous. How you lost that ball. I'm like, can you just give me a compliment for once? You've got the man of the match award today. Yeah, but sometimes I come with the man of the match and say, was you the man of the match? I was like, was I not good in the game? It was okay, it was okay. But it's good because he keeps me grounded.

22:59So it's very important for me to have that check reality sometimes. And and that's what made me stay very stable through my career. I think we all need that 100%. Being at this club, pressure is just like a must. One of the things that just comes with wearing that badge. How do you deal with pressure? No one is more demanding on myself than myself. And that's why I think for me it was very important to always have this kind of way of thinking, like put yourself in in difficult situations. Never overthink that you've done already everything, you have achieved whatever it was. Obviously, I've been achieving things that I've never dreamed about, but I always put something more.

23:47For example, when we talk about goals and assists, there was a big part for me when I started at an early age. Obviously, I scored five goals in my first season as a professional, so I was like, oh, I need to go. I need to push myself to score a bit more. But the main thing for me was always to put myself in a position of like, okay, you scored five goals, you give five assists. Next season, you need to put six goals and six assists. And then if it comes more, it comes more. But like having a personal aim to improve yourself in everything. Like last game, you played 10 balls to the number 10s.

24:23Next game, I need to put 11, 12, because they need to touch more the ball. They need to be more dangerous. So it's always small things that I always put in myself to improve myself to then have that when that extra pressure comes from the outside from everything I like okay I'm used to this I know how to deal with this let's let's keep the focus do what you have to do and improve your game right man we've got loads still to come right on this pod but we'll be back shortly after this hello I'm Max Rushton the World Cup is back and Football Weekly is going daily if you want award-winning soccer coverage from a podcast that's been over analyzing the game for more than 20 years and still hasn't run out of opinions or just repeats the same ones over and over again this is where you'll find it we'll be producing 33 daily episodes across the tournament breaking down all the action the results and of course the drama can the u.s make it out of the group stage and into the spotlight on the biggest stage world cup daily listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on youtube do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one for example but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization Well, it's easier than you think.

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25:55I saw James Madison said that considering your consistency that he still feels you're a bit underrated. Do you feel like that yourself? For me, it's a privilege having a player like Madison talk about me in that way because I looked at him as a top player but apart of that, being from a professional player that plays the game, plays kind of in my position, knowing the difficulties of being in the Premier League and everything, it's very grateful. And I think obviously, hearing him saying that I'm underrated, it makes me feel good because it makes me feel like, OK, so is there people that still don't...

26:36But I think it's more people that don't like me because I play for United than they support Chelsea, they support Liverpool. That comes with this club, man. That's normal. It will hurt me more if United fans will say that. And I know that there will be United fans there that will say like, oh, Bruno is not good enough. We should have kept another player and sell Bruno. We should have done this. It's normal. You will not be perfect. You will not be able to be liked by everyone, but you have to deal with that. Talking about your position, the impact of having more options in attacking areas this season, how important is it?

27:17I saw you talking about how you enjoy playing with Rashford, Martial and Cavani, especially over your time here. Obviously, with Rashid, it was more a connection of the type of player I am and the type of player he is. So the type of service he needs was kind of like a match between us two. Rashi runs in behind was like unbelievable, like powerful. From all the assists I got, some of the assists I just gave the ball five yards, Rashi got the ball, goes past five people and then he scored. Martial the same. The Martial was like a connection of like, I knew where he was, like things of like quick thinking things, you know, like one-twos.

27:59He knows the ball is coming around the box, like a little touch here. He knows that I'm going to just flick the ball there, flick the ball here. And with Cavani, it was like movement-wise, like inside the box. He was a killer. And like I knew everything he wanted from the first movement he did. Like it's inside the box was like unbelievable. Would you be talking to players that come in? Would you be saying to like Cisco, especially the forwards, Rashman's before, Or I've played with someone like Kavane. You need to watch some of the movements. For example, I try to go into their strengths. You just need to tell me where you want the ball.

28:37I'm going to try the best as I can to put the ball in that space. Then it might not be perfect, it might not be the best one, but you tell me, it's there, I'm going to put the ball in that place. That's great, because I sit there, we do the podcast on a Monday as well, and I'm sitting there going, I hope they're having these conversations. I think that's so healthy, especially a young player new to the club. No, and with Ben I had a lot of this type of conversation because I feel he really needs it. He's a player that really needs to feel the comfort of talking with the other ones. Because obviously he's just a game new, he's a striker, he knows that the pressure of this club for him will come with scoring goals or not scoring goals.

29:16Even knowing that for us it's not only that that we want. For example, at Sunderland at home he did an amazing game, he scored, but for me it was not the goal. It was the way he held up the ball, the way he made us go forward, the way he made it so tough on their defenders to run backwards, to fight for the ball. The game against Chelsea, the sent-off of Sanchez, he comes with him fighting for the ball, flicked the ball because we know, we told Brian, we told Mateusz, guys, when Ben goes to jump, he's going to win the ball, running behind him. And it came what? Sent-off, we get a free kick and from there we start playing.

29:55But then it's like small things like for example with Brian. I know he's very good with the runs in behind but I also know like that he likes to go a little bit wide, get the ball in his feet and 1v1. For Kouinge is more, pocket, give him the ball, he's going to turn, run with it, get a go at players. With Mason is more a connection of like one-two, think of like short passes between me and him. I know how much he likes these things. With Josh, last year we could have scored goal of the season against Newcastle by that play with me and him. Like, I think four or five passes in a row together, and then a great save from Nick.

30:33But I know Josh likes to play more. He's like a deeper striker, let's say. Likes to play more with his back to the goal, get the ball into his feet, turn. Ben has that, but he's more like also a guy that crosses, that will get into the box. Josh is more like a build-up striker, let's say. But for me, it's more to try to understand the individual qualities of them and try to play at their strengths. It's mad because Mason Mount said, I see him in a quote the other day, as soon as I see Bruno with the ball, that's my trigger to run him behind. We all know the calibre of the player he is. So they're moving.

31:08As soon as you get it, they're gone. That's the thing like when we talk about taking risks. They know I'm going to be the one. If is there a moment to take a risk they know I'm gonna take it for them and and I said it many times for them the only thing I need is that you guys don't stop to run even if you think I'm off side because sometimes I said to them sometimes I made it slow on purpose because I want I know the guy is running with you but will be a moment where he will think like oh he's gonna be offside so I'm gonna stop I'm just looking at the guy I don't even care about you because I know where you're running I'm just waiting for the guy to stop running and then in the moment I see that he's like his body is like moving I'm gonna make the pass because then he's gonna be like this they're going to be on the counter.

31:47And it's the timing. And Mason, as soon as he starts celebrating, it was to me. I think I'm on. I think I'm on. I said, Mason, don't worry. The first set of back, step back when I went to do the cross. The other ones in the back stopped, but the first one stepped back. I'm pretty sure they're not offside. You've got the inbuilt VAR system already. No, but it's like, I really look at details, you know? Like, I know that sometimes I'm going to miss. I'm going to, like, it's not going to be the best one and everything, but I'm very aware that if I take it, If I take the right pass in the right moment, Mason is an unbelievable finishing.

32:19Kouinga, Brian, Ben, Josh, they are very good with the ball. Unbelievable players. They just need that moment of getting the ball in the right position. They're going to score a goal for us. I want to take you to leadership. Being Man United captain can lead to big criticism and all the attention in the world. And we talked about your body language at times, you said earlier. But what is Bruno Fernandes' captain leadership style qualities? It's difficult for me to answer that. No, because I've been captain. My big thing was talking, communicating, trying to make players better on the football pitch, moving players around.

33:05Roy Keane was more of a shouter led by example drove standards every day I wouldn't say that he's always criticising me by shouting the other ones no I think I'm a little bit a mix of everything but obviously I'm very demanding with the players but not for myself I said I had the conversation with all of them the day I stopped demanding from you I've lost the belief in you if I don't shout at you because you missed the pass or you lost the ball or you were not in the right position is because I think you're not able or capable of doing anything else. Like, for example, I had the West Ham game.

33:48Josh got the ball with his back to the goal, like at halfway line, tries to turn, lost the ball. And I was like, come on, Josh, you can't lose that ball. And he was like, I know, I know, Bruno. I said, yeah, but I have to shout at you because you need to know it more. You can't lose this ball. You're too good for that. And then when I said, you're too good for that, he was like, okay. And then he started running, you know, like, because obviously... Reaction. Yeah. The thing with me, and I really understand that, is the same thing with the referees, is the arms. But that's my way of communicating.

34:18And the referees, when I had a conversation with them, they said the same thing to me. It was like, Bruno, you know the problem with you is that you wave your arms. And for us, you don't talk in a bad way to us. But the problem is, for the perspective of the stadium, it's bad. it looks bad on us because you're waving your arms you're moving your arms like even when we talk like this like close to referee I'm like moving the arms it's like Bruno just put your arms down put your arms down we can talk we can talk but put your arms down because they know like the thing of me doing this this this like the people in the stadium they don't know what I'm saying to the referee I could say like yeah it was a good decision but there you missed that and they go like Bruno you're telling a good thing but people outside are thinking that you are screaming and going crazy at me do you know the crazy thing is about that when I first come to United and I was coming out with the ball.

35:06I was going, I didn't know. I was doing this. Like, where are you? Type thing. Come on, make yourself available to my teammates with my hands. And I remember after a few games, Sadiex Ferguson pulled me and said to me at training, he said, Ria, stop waving your hands. He said, you're bringing agitation. Everyone's getting nervous in the stadium when you've got the ball. So I had to change. I didn't know I even done it. Yeah, that's because the problem is like in the game, you can't control everything with you because it's not like you do something on purpose for other people to get the stick or whatever.

35:40It's just like, in the moment, it goes natural because we don't have time to think in all that things that people then go and comment and say, look at him, he's waving his arms, he's thinking this. I haven't think anything of what you could possibly imagine. I didn't even thought about it. I just did it. And I think it's very important for me also to understand the environment and understand the other players and as a captain obviously you're going to get more attention stick and everything but that comes with the club also it's not like just by the armband because i said i said to everyone like i haven't changed the way i was for the way i'm now because i've got the armband on my arm because i think when eric chose me to be the captain he knew what type of captain i was before having the armband so I know I lead by example because I do everything that is needed to do on the training pitch.

36:35I train as hard as I can. I can moan as much people think, but I run more than I moan that I'm pretty sure of that. So I think I'm still an example of the way things have to be done for the club. Then I think I treat everyone as I would like to be treated. And when I talk about everyone, it's not just the players, but everyone. I don't see anyone below me. For me, everyone is in the same level. It could be me. It could be the people that serve us at the restaurant, the chefs, the nutritionists, the staff, all of them for me in the same line as me. No one is below and no one is above me. Obviously, a part of the bosses.

37:16Yeah, I was going to say, the manager maybe. The manager and the other ones that are above the managers, that one. But still, the manager every time says, guys, I'm in the same level as you. I just have more responsibility and I have to take the decisions. That's where I'm above you. And then as a captain, I have sometimes to make decisions on things. And then, yes, I'm above certain players. But what I do is, OK, we have a leadership group. That is me, Ari, Licha, Tom, Masrawi and Diogo. We have six players. But obviously, we then add players in the situation that are not in the leadership group, like Casemiro, Luke Shaw, because we also want players with big responsibilities to have a saying.

38:04But obviously we always try these six players to say, okay guys, this is the way we want to have, where we want to be, what we want to do. And from that six, the message has to be clear for everyone else. We have to become a little bit of a bigger personality than the other ones because we need to make the rules clear for everyone. But that's not just me, it's the leadership group that has to put a stamp in the place like, guys, this is what we're going to do and mandatory for us. This is the way, the path and what we have to have to play at this club. Just tell me and maybe walk me through the difference in the change room from the one you walked into in 2020 to what it is like now.

38:48When I walked in in 2020, it was a lot of experienced players. You know, like for me was like you had David, you had Nema, you had Juan. You had at the time, let me think about obviously Paul was already a big player. Jesse was a big player at the time already. You had Rashi. You had a lot of like experienced players in the team. And then we'd come with a mix of youngest. Now, looking now, I look at myself as Nema and as Juan and everything and a lot of young players coming in with a lot of energy. I think everything has changed in the world of football in the last, not five years, but also through the years I've been in football, everything has changed.

39:34Everything is more, I would say, softer. It's different the way you have to deal with the players because obviously when I was a younger player, I was used to be like the young ones would stay in my like very like oh there is the big players coming you have to be like quiet you know don't be noisy and everything nowadays the young ones put the music in the dressing room they make noise and everything i have lenny on my right side and patrick on my left in the dressing room oh my god shoes everywhere is everything i have to be all the time like i'm on lenny put the things right patrick put your shoes in the in the basket come on i need to be like the dad of the of the dressing room and then a part of that i have josh just on the side of Patrick that is like the noisiest one in the dressing room.

40:20But I really like the mix of things that we have in the dressing room because from one point, it makes me feel very young because the energy they have, the way we involve everyone together and not looking at age difference, who's being here more, who's being here less. We don't have that thing of like who's more important, who's less important. So we treat everyone. If they have to make, obviously they don't make many jokes with me like look take the car open the car open the boot that kind of stuff hiding hiding clothes putting like shoes on top of something they're still doing that yeah the worst the worst shoes go up and everyone can see in the morning yeah the other day they did it to to look show and then everyone like was trying like the ones that I was like pointing they were like all in my sight Lenny Kobe was a little bit far but it was Lenny Kobe, Josh Aidan and Patrick I was looking at them and I was like one of you for sure has done that and then Luke Shaw was like guys if I find out who it was your car will be in the middle of the future I'm telling you but that's good the vibes are good the energy is very good and obviously the even the older ones we we don't take it as serious like these jokes and everything we we go along with it uh obviously they know who they who they joke with because obviously they won't joke with me with that because I I will punch them I said to Aidan, Aidan is the one that like, he always goes too far with everyone.

41:50And I think he does it on purpose. He likes to be like, he's a very good kid that we see him in the training and the day by day. And you see him on the pitch when we're playing. And we say like, this is not the same guy. The way he can switch is not like, we're like that. This is not the same guy. Hard to do that. He's coming out of the dressing room to go to the warmup. You still can see him like, a little bit like laughing and stuff like that. as soon he gets into the pitch, like, you look at his face and he looks like an old man playing. Like, serious face, everything, like, and you're like, that's...

42:19I couldn't do that, you know. I had to be serious when I wake up and be ready on the bus. That's me. Serious and focused. That's me. That's me. I like life. I think it's like more old school mentality. We used to see the other ones like that so we were like, okay, focus, like, no noise, no nothing. They're very relaxed. They go into the game in the dressing room. They're very, like, light. But then they go to the pitch and you see a completely different pattern. It's more like you having to adapt to them, isn't it? Yeah, it is. I've been adapting to them the way they do things. And to be honest, some of the things they do, it quite relaxes me also.

42:55I've changed some of the things by looking at them like, how can they be so relaxed and still get to the pitch and everything? So sometimes even the dressing room is I need to be relaxed and joke with them and everything. Ten minutes before going out, I put myself in my warm-up thing. I do my things, but focus gone. The way you talk, I feel that love for the club and that you've just got a connection that you've built over time. And you've obviously shown loyalty, I think there's offers in the summer to go elsewhere. How do you feel about all that now? No, obviously I think it's not seen as it was before.

43:32Loyalty in football before was like like Totti at Rome, Giggs at United, Maldini at Milan. I had all these examples in Italy. So for me, when I came to the club, apart of loving being here and loving the club, I think my loyalty was like in the toughest periods I had the club and I could have left in two times. the club said no we need you and I said okay you gave me something I will give you something obviously I think the time at the club has not been as I wanted because obviously I wanted to lift trophies and I haven't lift as many as I should and I could but at the same time I think everything I've done for the club in a certain way was still very important and not taking nothing away from other players that were a year and everything.

44:28I think when we struggled the most, I sat present to the club and I think everyone at the club, I hope, is aware of that because the chances I had were very good. I don't do and I don't think in anything else more than football apart my family. That's my number one thing and nothing different. So I'm very aware that I could have done a a different path. I could have gone in a different way and probably winning more trophies and people talking about me in a different way because I've had trophies into my cabinet. So nowadays people talk more like you are a better player or a worse player if you win or you lose trophies.

45:13It changed a lot because if I look at the past, Totti is known as one of the best players in Italy and unfortunately for him he hasn't won many trophies but I think if you look back everyone still says quality is quality everyone says he's one of the best that ever played for Italy so you can't you can't compare Totti with Maldini because obviously Maldini was in a winning team that has won in many years obviously when he was there they won a lot but they kept winning then they had a moment of struggling but they kept winning Totti at Rome they haven't won since him like it hasn't changed much and he still is like the goat of Rome.

45:54I've heard you say that you want to win trophies and be successful in that sense. Has staying and being loyal been difficult at any point? Obviously, when I speak about going and winning trophies, I stayed here because I think I still can win trophies here. I wouldn't have stayed here if the club hasn't told me our aim is still to get the highest we can be, get back to winning trophies, get back to be the club we were before. Because if that was not the aim, then yes, I wouldn't have stayed here. But because I know the aim of the club is still to get back to where they want to be and where I want the club to be.

46:29And that's why I came to the club in first place. So if I can help to get back there, that's all I want to do. Well, the fans, I'm sure, no doubt are happy. So just quickly, we've got to get your father-side team before you go. We always do it with all the players. There's some great teams that players have had. the best five-a-side team of players that you've played with, please. No goalkeepers, because goalkeepers don't count, guys. They just don't count. Best five-a-side player? It's a very tough one. I'm going to put... I have to put one defender, no? If you want. I will put, as a defender, Pep.

47:05I was with him the other day, actually. He was very healthy, man. He's going cycling, cycling kilometres and kilometres. I'm done with seeing photos of him on Instagram cycling. So Pep, just ahead of Rafa Varane. Just because I played more with Pep than I played with Rafa. But friendship-wise, Rafa was like one of my best friends here. Friendship-wise, in the national team when I came, Pep was one of the ones that helped me the most. So I need to put him there. Crazy guy. In midfield, I will put Juan Mata because he was one of the most special players I've played with. Is it? Juan. In terms of technical ability he's probably one of the best.

47:55And then in terms of personal he's by far one of the best. Then up front. One mid-order. Pep. Yeah, but I think I have too many strikers to put on. Okay. Let me think about another midfielder.

48:16I will put one that I think everyone has regrets of not seeing the best of him. That is Pogba. I need to put him there. I've seen the best of him because I played against him in Italy. What's so special about Paul? He has everything. He could do everything as a midfielder. He could run, he could recover balls, he could score goals, he could give assists, he could add the ball, he could win duels, he could do everything. He's the most complete midfielder that I've seen for a long, long time that could do all these things. Unfortunately, I've just seen that at Juve and I couldn't see him as often here at the club because of injuries, of many other things.

49:00But I've played against him in Juve. He wasn't played. No, it was crazy. And I had to mark him. Look at me, my size-wise, I was at the time 68, 69 kilos. Paul was already a beast. Any this, I was like, it was like a kid, like, stay back. Like I do to my kid, stay there. He was doing that to me. That's free. Pep, Juan, Paul, and I need two more. Obviously, Cristiano has to be there. It's the main goal scoring of the football world all the time for me. And then I have one more striker to put there. I will put Di Natale. Oh, in Italy for Udinese. Nice. That guy is, when we talk about loyalty, that's also a guy.

49:54He could have gone Juventus, he could have gone, I don't know, any other clubs and decide to stay at Udinese. For him and for his family, he wanted to stay there. He did an amazing career. I think he's top five goal scorers in Italy, Serie A. And that's something unbelievable because he played for a team that struggles sometimes to be almost in relegation battles and stuff. And he still put numbers up there always every year, like close to 20s. And he's being there with Totti. And I think he's the one with less games and like more goals, like ratio-wise, it's unbelievable. What he did is unbelievable.

50:29So that's Pep, Juan Mata, Pogba, Cristiano, Di Natale, your five-a-side team. I could have gone for many others, but friendship-wise, I mix a little bit. Listen, Bruno, man, thanks. It's been great talking to you. Thank you very much. We waited a while. I've been messaging you, man, all the time. I know you must think, oh, he's getting on my nose. I really appreciate that you came. Thanks, man. Great to see you and continued success, man. Keep creating. Keep creating, man. I love to see it. I'll try. Take care, man. You're training now, yeah? Yeah. You're going out to see it? I can come watch, yeah?

51:09Yeah, definitely. Definitely if I can come and watch, man. See some of them passes.

51:28Thank you.

52:0033 days, 33 episodes, no off switch. From the goals and the glory to the politics and the problems of the World Cup, if you want soccer analysis from a podcast that's been overanalyzing the game for more than 20 years, then this is it. Join me, Max Rushton, and our expert team of soccer journalists every day of the tournament. Can England end 60 years of hurt, or will this be another year of falling just short? Probably. World Cup Daily, listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch full episodes on YouTube.