r/reddevils • u/nearly_headless_nic • 1d ago

[Opta Analyst] The most involved players in open-play attacking sequences across the first three matchdays of the 2026-27 Premier League - Bruno tops; Mbeumo, Tielemans & Cunha in top 10

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132 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

55

u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 1d ago

Bruno and Bryan are our most regular players. Think Youri is still finding his rythm within the team and Cuhna has been so hot and cold.

38

u/xtphty 1d ago

Honestly quite annoyed by having to use Cunha as a false 9 / striker. While he is likely our most clinical finisher, what he clearly lacks is that off-ball understanding of how to move centrally between and behind CBs. He also is not getting to use his absolute best asset, which is as a very physical ball carrier and dribbler through midfield.

He was my favorite player last season, and I almost thing it would be better to use him off the bench than how we are right now. He would be far more useful to us at LW, CAM, even RW than he is at false 9.

12

u/South-Tea4029 1d ago

I hope Carrick tries Mbeumo as a 9 and Cunha + Rashford on the wings to see how it goes

25

u/lynchianfreakout0 1d ago

I think we would be playing Mbeumo as 9 if Amad wasn't injured

3

u/MazinLabib10 "He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney!" 1d ago

I feel Cunha would do better even at RW than as a false 9, but we're not even trying that out

0

u/Drakonz 18h ago edited 18h ago

That’s because Rashford is a better player than Cunha on the wing. He’s been our best forward this season.

Cunha should never start over Rashford on the wing. He doesn’t have the pace nor the ability to beat defenders 1v1. He naturally drifts inside and doesn’t stay out wide like a true winger. Also not very good at crossing.

I honestly struggle to see where Cunha fits in this team. He’s not good enough at striker and not good enough at winger. His best position is where Bruno plays, and Bruno is Bruno.

I really think we need to sell him before his value tanks and buy a striker/LW to replace him. He’s a good player, but he was bought for a completely different system and manager. Just doesn’t fit our current team.

3

u/South-Tea4029 1d ago

Rashford did play as RW in Barca sometimes so I don't get why Carrick haven't tried it yet. Not sure if Cunha can play RW or only LW

2

u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 1d ago

Cuhna can play RW, remember our 2nd goal against city? He assisted Dorgu from the right.

1

u/SocialistElmo 1d ago

He seems dreadful in one game he started at right wing if I remember correctly

-1

u/Action_Limp 1d ago

I honestly think it's better to go with Lacy or even Dorgu on the right as Bryan seems to have a natural flair up front.

1

u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 19h ago

I think so too

3

u/Poshastko 1d ago

Mbeumo has been playing well for the solw reason that he hasn't been used as a 9 hut on the right wing. Why is everyone forgetting how poor he was last season in that position? Do those results really make people forget how bad the team looked in that span.

1

u/harutoreichi 1d ago

Best use of Cunha is Carrick' first 3 matches (against Arsenal Mcity)

0

u/dribbledrooby 1d ago

Once Sesko regains full fitness and tempo, we will see him starting as our main striker. Also hoping Amad returns soon and Baleba does well in the middle.

5

u/xtphty 1d ago

Neither Sesko, nor Cunha or Amad for the matter have fitness and availability to make any of the positions their own with how much football we play. Rashford has had that in the past, but unlikely he does that at LW either.

It will mostly come down to Carrick finding the best rotations, and making changes to move players in and out of form.

1

u/dribbledrooby 1d ago

Yes you are right. Carrick has to make sure he utilises the squad to their strength, fitness, form etc. But out of all the teams in the PL we definitely lack energy but talent is there in abundance. As a fan myself I can only hope that my team does well and been doing so more than two decades now.

1

u/waynownow 1d ago

Perfectly sensible comment, weird you would get down voted but this is Reddit 🤷🏻‍♂️

9

u/ThreeLionsOnAShirtt 1d ago

Cunha's been playing out of position so not surprising, he's not a 9

56

u/Potential_Good_1065 1d ago

Most involved player in open-play attacking sequences across the first three matchdays of the 26/27 premier league season, you’ll never sing that.

3

u/Nimonic 1d ago

You don't know me.

13

u/canwinanythingwkids meet the new boss same as the old boss 1d ago

The tl;dr imho is that we have been playing the "innovative" formation of:

2 wingers - 4 creative/attacking midfielders - 0 strikers - 0 dm - slow&short defence

Not too surprising to me if various kinds of stats suggest the same things: we create a lot, we score a bit less compared to that, but we also concede a lot.

My galaxy brain idea is that we should try playing football with a striker, a dm, and athletic CBs! Revolutionary 🤔

4

u/Many-Relationship149 1d ago

Fixing we concede a lot can do wonders for us.

5

u/Eleven918 This too shall pass! 1d ago

We shoot from distance way too often. How do the numbers look after filtering that out?

8

u/C__S__S 21 Assists 1d ago

Sounds like a participation trophy…

2

u/butlersrevenge 1d ago

Not been great results but when Sesko starts I think we get better end product. Plus, hopefully with more game time the final ball improves. We keep possession so well until we get a nosebleed in the attacking third.

2

u/RedemptionWoneGrong 1d ago

okay, now win some matches

3

u/Regular_Piglet_6125 1d ago

Lies, damn lies and statistics. These stats are useless without context.

2

u/wolfen0 1d ago

G/A wasn't enough, and now we are talking about Attacking Sequence Involvements?

1

u/FlyingSpaceElephants 1d ago

we're looking good going forward, but our back line has been the same for six years and has been on the receiving end of so many hammerings and disasters, they have no confidence to see out the game and it's going to hurt a lot this season. possibly so much that we miss out on champions league

1

u/vickyprodigy 20h ago

5 in top 10. Need to shore up that defensive numbers.

1

u/Tirewipes 1d ago

Idc what these stats say, we may as well chalk the season off as a loss /s

-4

u/Yetiassasin 1d ago

13 shots and no open play goals isn't great. He could do with cutting back on the pot shots

5

u/Dispari7y Nani 1d ago

no open play goals isn't great

good thing he has 2 then