There's 101 reasons PSG controlled the game and Fred/McTominay is not the main cause. You can be have Carrick in the side and be dominated by an opposition if you're set up to play on the break with a depleted team against a world class opposition away from home.
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There's 101 reasons PSG controlled the game and Fred/McTominay is not the main cause. You can be have Carrick in the side and be dominated by an opposition if you're set up to play on the break with a depleted team against a world class opposition away from home.
They were the depleted reinforcements
Ekeke you’re entitled to that opinion mate but I watched the game and was massively impressed with Fred & McTom, our possession issues resulted largely from other aspects of our play and PSG were quite simply a much better side than us.
I don’t need stats to tell me Young and Bailly were awful just as stats will never tell me the full picture regarding Fred & McTom that night. In my opinion they were excellent in very difficult circumstances, if you feel different, good on you.
In 2008 I’m fairly sure stats alone will tell you Paul Scholes goal aside wasn't especially good vs. Barça when we surrendered 64% of possession at home, he was though, as was his midfield partner.
I don’t need stats to tell me Young and Bailly were awful just as stats will never tell me the full picture regarding Fred & McTom that night. In my opinion they were excellent in very difficult circumstances, if you feel different, good on you.
In 2008 I’m fairly sure stats alone will tell you Paul Scholes goal aside wasn't especially good vs. Barça when we surrendered 64% of possession at home, he was though, as was his midfield partner.
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Again they did well in the circumstances, better than our midfield did at home with the first choice players.
But now you're saying excellent under the circumstances, whereas before it was just excellent period.
Under the circumstances? sure.
But in terms of what was being talked about, proving yourself at a high level, then I dont think that performance showed Fred was a top CM. Ander had much better big games against most of the top teams we played, he was our best big match player and did more than just break up play occasionally. He got a couple of goals and he actually made our 2nd most forward passes out of our midfield last season behind Pogba. I also looked at the PSG players in comparison because some people had a hard time understanding why they wanted him, only Veratti played more forward passes out of PSG's CMs last season.
Fred is doing fine but still has a long way to go to match Ander in terms of big games.
In team sport one can only ever be excellent under the circumstances. It’s impossible to put in a Xavi performance in CM vs. PSG away when playing for a far inferior side.
As for the passing stats, was that Herrera per minute or in total over the season?
Agree. Like I said, what people have to do is apply the same forensic approach to others and in this instance Herrera and equally that during his time here, his game had its limitations. Even with the midfield numbers we had at the time and playing better football, the general consensus was he needed to be upgraded. The issue I had with Herrera is was wasn't good enough to be a 6, yet not creative enough to play at 8 either.
When your in a hole it's a good idea to throw away the shovel.
He was excellent that night full stop.
1-3 is the only stat that matters from that game.
Agreed. It's a really unusual deficiency for a non-flashy midfielder to have. He's neither a particularly stabilising presence nor is he a game changer. You do have energisers in midfield but typically they've been one or the other on top.
But at the same time our general build-up and the systematic nature of pit passing is very limited so he's forced into a lot of unenviable positions. Particularly those De Gea passes splitting the defence - he's generally reacting to a shaky pass in a bad area with poor options. He's had many unforced errors too, but the environment he's in can't be ignored.
Some players are just better when they don't have a lot of time to think and a lot of their choices are more or less predetermined. Fred definitely seems like one of them. Put him in a more functional system and he can energise the team without taking the same risks.
Look at the Newcastle goal. It was an awkward pass into an already difficult position. He was under pressure before the ball even got to him, there should have been other options. His biggest problem is he tries to show for the ball all the time, and sometimes hes not in a great position and is the only one making himself available. He is better with a mobile midfield that moves around for one touch passing but it could still be improved.
More nonsense.
With that argument our worst player on the night was excellent. Spoiler - not the case. PSG had a disappointing performance from their point of view, but still dominated
Arsenal 2:0 Man Utd
Lots of effort, the most in the team for that performance but a lack of quality too
Thought he was shocking today. Lots of stupid needless fouls, wrong pass selection and constant hospital balls. Also gave the ball away constantly and got bypassed in midfield all game.
Was waiting to read this kind of absolute nonsense
Fred. Stop it. You can not take corners. You can not take Free Kicks. Set pieces aren't your thing... Because you are absolutely shit at them. Its fine you can have other things...like tackling, or control, or passing... Just please... Stop it with these feckin set plays.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good for you mate
I'm baffled the team and coaches think he's a good option for shots from free kicks. We don't have great options but he isn't even top 3
Decent enough. Can’t shoot though.
At least half true. He does get bypassed and beaten a lot in general, but he also was the only one of our midfielders to win the ball. But on the ball he was slow, struggled to be creative and his shots werent of the required quality either.
He was for sure better than Matic and he did for sure try harder than his team mates. But the quality wasnt there
Stop fecking shooting. I can't remember the last shot he had that wasn't in row Z.
Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty much had to play in midfield alone as Matic is a complete passenger. Our only player other than Martial who tried. Worried he's getting gassed. Our midfield depth is a joke
Said it before, he's due a "bad" game, due to the way he's been playing in the last xx games in a row.
....and not so much from you
We need to replace Matic fast.
Agreed.
Works hard but takes too long to figure out what he wants to do, and takes too many touches.
He can’t control a midfield from deep, and isn’t creative when advanced.
Our best player by far in my eyes.
Only player with any sense of dignity today.
Do you think he played well?
This is his worst performance ever since that Liverpool game. Probably his only bad game since that game, he looks very tired though.
Motm + great field goal near the end of the game...
Once he retires he could still do a job in the NFL
Best on the pitch in our team. His skillset is very good. Passing good but needs some improvment.
He’s a short Matic basically.
He's a box up box midfielder, problem is he had Matić along him and Lingard on front of him. Who to play with.
He needs help, it is as simple as that.
Only player that came away with any credit.
Covered so much ground and looked like the only player who was willing to play a pass.
Covered so much ground and looked like the only player who was willing to play a pass.
Shows how far he's come when he's the only one who looked very good in a defeat.
I thought he played well all things considered, those being two slow ponderous centre halves behind him taking 45 mins to give him the ball, and then Matic and Lingard.
First half. Actually hit the target
I must have been so shocked that I had amnesia for those few secs
Not up to his recent outings but put a shift in. Playing alongside Matic creates huge issues for the team and him. Was impressed with his work rate second half. Thought his engine was good and he's definitely getting to grips with the phisicallity of the premiership.
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