It's semantics isn't it. A manager could utilise Fred as a CDM in a double pivot, but the same manager would probably use him as a box-box in a midfield 3 not as the holding midfielder. Similar to Kante. It all depends, but Fred can certainly play as a central defensive midfielder with success, depending on the system. I actually prefer him to Matic around the box when we defend deep as he is more mobile and snappy than Matic. He has good tackling, good vision, good dribbling out but not sure he can play there with Pogba as a partner.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
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- Assists
- 4
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so before Bruno showed up who in your opinion was our best midfielder up until that point? Personally up until after Lockdown I would have had Fred nailed on for our Player of the year.
I find it incredible people couldn’t see the quality in the performances he was producing
I agree with you. Since the restart we have played with Pogba and Bruno and as a result Matic is the best option as the third midfielder. However this does not mean that Fred is a bad player. As you said he was probably our best player prior to the lockdown. I think in some games at OT where teams coma and park the bus a midfield of Fred, Paul and Bruno could work
I see someone who is a better central midfielder than Daniel James. You apparently don't.
So who in your opinion was our best midfielder most of the season?
Where were we again for most of the season? Around 8th? Yes, Fred and McTominay were about the same level while we were playing poorly and missed Pogba. A bit better than Andreas. Our best midfielders simply didnt play for most of the season.
I dont think Fred was significantly better than Ward-Prowse and Hojberg at Southampton for example which is a mid table team although we can say that statistically the midfield is their 2nd biggest strength after Ings up front. So they can play at a team thats better than 11th
Before lockdown he was in beast mode. I’d hold onto him, I like his energy and commitment, when he’s in form he looks a real player imo.
Let's say I'm a hell of a lot more at ease if I see Mac T's name on the teamsheet than Fred's. I'd even put Mata above Fred tbh. You can at least get a goal out of him or an assist or two. How can you say Fred is a better midfielder than James? We've never tried James in that position. I'm saying if we tried him in the same role as Fred then I believe he would do a better job. He's got the same energy, he would be more direct, better in the final 3rd and he's capable of getting his name on the score sheet. Plays with more intent and purpose than Fred does! Not going to happen though.
Beast mode a bit of an over exaggeration? Last season Fred was unbelievably awful much like Sanchez, but it was his first season in a new country and he wasnt viewed as world class like Sanchez despite the fee.
This season he has improved a lot, but beast mode. Was he dominating games and taking them by the scruff of the nexk, winning the ball all over the pitch, driving forward, scoring assisting....no, he wasnt in beat mode.
He was decent, he was doing a good job in his role up until Chritsmas whilst Pogba was injured and Matic was still in OAP mode.
I like Fred, dont get me wrong. ALthough he doesnt excel at anything, I think he is decent all round and appears to have the right attitude and lots of energy. But lets not forget, this is a player we paid over £50m for, this is a player who isnt a DM when there is one DM in the formation, this is a box to box player really suited for Pogbas role and really, in a different way.....so is McTominay.
It is good to have someone of his quality on the bench as of course it strengthens the squad, but would I reluctantly sell him and sign a proper DM, when there are so many really promising young ones around at the moment and we already have McTominay and will probably have Perreira still as well.........For £20-25m if we could sell him and spend under £50m most likely on pretty much any of the top young DM outside of the premiership crazy Rice prices....yes, without a doubt. What I wouldnt want to do and think we will, is assess Garner on loan and use Mctominay as the Matic cover, a role he really isnt suited to in my opinion
Your opinion on beast mode is a lot higher than I was eluding to pal.
Akinfenwa talks about being in ‘beast mode’ and he’s shite.
I just meant he was much improved, dynamic, involved in the game, aggressively winning the ball back and being a general pain in the arse for oppo teams.
You seem to be describing peak Zidane in your first sentence.
He’s never going to be that player, just like 99% of other midfielders won’t.Cicrcumstantial of course as we havent seen James in Freds position.....but I doubt anybody would agree with you considering just how awful he has been in his actual preferred positions bar the opening 6-8 weeks of the season where he wasnt even that good anyway, people got sucked in by his goals
Bringing Daniel James into any argument to prove why you think another player isnt good enough is like using a brick as an example of a better swimmer than Duncan Goodhew
Good assessment. He did what you would expect of a squad player. Step up and make a decent contribution. The reality, as you state is that he excels at nothing. He makes up the numbers, and you need players like that, unfortunately we paid an astonishing £50m for the privilege of someone who would only be a starter at a mid table team.
One thing people forget is that Mourinho signed Fred to be a Pogba replacement becasue he wanted Pogba gone at the time. We never signed him to be a DM, it was clear that we saw him as a playmaker which is what he is. Solskjaer however has patched things up with Pogba and now there isn't really a place in the team for him beyond being backup which makes the money we paid for him laughable.
Your opinion on beast mode is a lot higher than I was eluding to pal.
Akinfenwa talks about being in ‘beast mode’ and he’s shite.
I just meant he was much improved, dynamic, involved in the game, aggressively winning the ball back and being a general pain in the arse for oppo teams.
You seem to be describing peak Zidane in your first sentence.
To be fair he would have improved last seasons performances just by farting as he ran or is this beast you are referring to a squirrel?
I think Mourinho wanted to play:
Pogba - Matic - Fred
Remember he started him & Pogba together from the start of last season.
And of course there is place for him in Ole now to play with Pogba, he didn't play them together recently in the league because there is no room for error to take a risk at that time. He'll get his chance next season and even today Ole is starting him next to Pogba.
All the talk was that he was Ander's replacement. A DM who can pass better. If you think we wouldnt have signed a proper Pogba replacement you're crazy, and we missed Pogba a lot this season so even if he was supposed to be a Pogba replacement, he wasnt.
He was a decent squad player
How transfermarkt views him
Signed for 59 million euros, currently worth 17.5 million euros
Man Utd 1:0 FC Copenhagen
His passing and decision making is a fecking disaster.
Apart from that he's ok.
Apart from that he's ok.
His passing is usually the best thing other than his energy, but yeah sometimes he'll play a square ball with a lack of awareness of players closing down space
Let’s put to bed any notion of him playing at 6.
He had a good game. You guys should stick to cricket honestly
So you want to take an attacking winger who is fast but really doesn't have any real quality on the ball, and play him as a deep-lying playmaker / defensive midfielder? It's the equivalent of wanting to play Igahlo at rightback because he's more likely to score a goal than AWB.
Played well. There was a noticeable lack of progressive passing from deep once he went off.
Maybe its just me but I thought Pogba played much better after matic came on
Strange to see people saying he was poor. He won the ball back on the front foot a few times, played some good passes in between the lines. He wasn't fantastic by any means but there was a lack of intensity when we brought Matic onto replace him.
...
He had some good moments and some poor moments. Overall he was decent without being amazing.
He looked much better when he stepped up on the pitch.
He's a decent midfielder that can do the job but just keep him away from the back. He's absolutely not a number 6 for me. He's a number 8.
He's a decent midfielder that can do the job but just keep him away from the back. He's absolutely not a number 6 for me. He's a number 8.
I thought he played well tonight, really didn't think we needed Matic (not that Matic didn't do equally as well when he came on)
He had a good game, he's defo better than McTominay in that role.
He needed minutes, glad he played... just needs to be more aware.
I thought he was great. Tackles, interceptions, keeping possession and playing forward passes. Can't believe he'd get criticism for that performance. He made one bad mistake but we clearly lost drive and direction when he went off.
Sloppy in possession, always has been. Not a number 6 and not creative enough to be an 8 for me.
Agree. Sell
I like him as a a pressing CM player.
As a deep CDM he makes me nervous as well as the rest of the team. we need a new CDM to compete with Matic.
As a deep CDM he makes me nervous as well as the rest of the team. we need a new CDM to compete with Matic.
I just don't think he's a 6, we have no control when he's behind Bruno and Pogba, the latter has to track back often to help him
Never a DM.
We need to buy one, seriously. Now
We need to buy one, seriously. Now
Others have said it: Fred is not that a #6. We really do him a disservice asking him to drop between the centre backs and help them play out. Copenhagen pressed him early on and exposed his weaknesses. He will never ever be Fernando Redondo and we should stop trying to make him into that. In the second half, once we'd boxed them in a bit, he showed a lot more. He's a number #8 and if he's going to get games it should be in rotation with Pogba not Matic.
A really poor game from him, he could have cost us big time with that stupid ball he gave away in the first half. No even near the calmess and control we have when Matic is playing, I think he's on the same case as McTominay, we were used to so much shitty displays that we overrated them and now that we've seen a proper midfield run by Bruno-Pogba-Matic their "averagness" comes to float real fast.
Coppenhaggen pressed him early on and exposed him? What game were you watching?
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