Bruno Fernandes has had another impressive season at Manchester United with the midfielder having reemphasised his status as one of the Premier League’s best creative talents.
The Portugal international has captained the side for much of the campaign under Erik ten Hag and has led by example when it comes to chance creation.
Eight goals and eight assists are a respectable return, but tell only half the story of the star’s season. Fernandes has topped the Premier League on a number of creative metrics and we’ve delved into the numbers to appreciate the 28-year-old’s influential season.
Shot-creating actions (219) – Premier League rank (1st)
Fernandes led the Premier League for shot-creating actions during the 2022/23 campaign, with only some wayward finishing from his Manchester United team-mates preventing a higher number of assists.
The Portuguese playmaker produced 219 shot-creating actions throughout the campaign, a huge 41 more than the second-highest player in the division, Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier.
Kevin De Bruyne (176) was third on the list, but the Premier League’s Playmaker of the Season was some distance from Fernandes’ total. The presence of Erling Haaland in the Manchester City side might have had some contribution to De Bruyne’s status as the league’s leading assist provider.
Key passes (119) – Premier League rank (1st)
Fernandes also topped the metric for key passes with 119 for the campaign, again ahead of Kieran Trippier (112) and De Bruyne (96). Brighton’s Pascal Gross ranked fourth (80) and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard rounded out the top five (76).
His 119 chances created were the highest recorded by a Manchester United player in a single campaign since Opta first collected the data in 2003/04.
119 – Bruno Fernandes created 119 chances in the Premier League this season, the highest on record (since 2003-04) by a @ManUtd player in a single campaign. Noise. pic.twitter.com/WIuInMx58n
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 28, 2023
Big chances created (32) – Premier League rank (1st)
No player in the Premier League created more ‘big chances’ than Fernandes in 2022/23, a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score.
Examples of ‘big chances’ include one against ones or efforts on goal from close range when there is ‘moderate’ pressure on the attacking player to score.
Fernandes edged out De Bruyne (31) for big chances created, while Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold ranked third (25).
Through balls (23) – Premier League rank (1st)
Another key element of Fernandes’ game and another metric on which he topped the Premier League for last season.
Fernandes was a consistent menace to opposition defences with threaded passes through lines and recorded 23 through balls during the campaign. No other player managed more than 20, with the usual suspects of De Bruyne and Alexander-Arnold trailing the Manchester United man.
Bruno Fernandes was the most involved player in open play attacking sequences across the Premier League in 2022-23, both overall and on a per 90 basis.#MUFC @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/EvOkD9voA9
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) May 29, 2023
xA (16.7) – Premier League rank (1st)
The statistic that truly underlines how Manchester United’s wasteful forwards impacted Fernandes’ assist numbers last season.
The midfielder’s xA figure was the highest in the Premier League last season despite Fernandes finishing the season some distance behind the leading assist providers.
xA (expected assists) is calculated on the likelihood that a pass will be an assist and uses a variety of factors – including finishing location of the pass and type of pass – to judge the probability of a goal being scored.
Based on last season’s numbers, Fernandes could reasonably have expected to end the season on 16 assists, but concluded the campaign with half that amount (8) in a huge underperformance (8.7) from his team-mates.
The next biggest discrepancies between xA and actual assists were Tottenham’s Harry Kane (three assists from an xA of 7.55) and Everton’s Dwight McNeil (three assists from an xA figure of 7.44).
There’s little wonder than Erik ten Hag’s top focus for the summer transfer window is an elite centre-forward. Any new signing will not be short on service.
Chances created in a single game (9)
Fernandes set a season high for chances created in a single game after fashioning NINE goalscoring opportunities for his team-mates in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham in October.
United produced their best performance of Erik ten Hag’s early reign to beat the north Londoners, in an attacking display that saw the Red Devils fire 19 shots on goal in the first half alone.
Fernandes orchestrated a fine performance from his side and created a huge nine chances, the most in a Premier League game since Fernandes himself created 10 chances against Aston Villa 13 months earlier.
9 – Bruno Fernandes created nine chances in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, the most by a player in a Premier League game since Bruno Fernandes created 10 against Aston Villa last September. Orchestrator. pic.twitter.com/N9zFof4HDF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2022
The midfielder also scored the second goal in a superb individual performance.
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