Fredge | Deal done

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Solius said:
We all said Pogba was the midfielder we'd been missing, then we said Matic was the player we'd been missing and would free up Pogba and now Fred is the player we've been missing. I'll reserve judgement because our style of football seems to mean our midfield has no bearing on our play.
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Word.
 
MrMourinho#7 said:
How funny of you. Maybe giving an insight about the player (if you have any) instead of making childish jokes would add much more to the thread though. Jeez, it's like someone is always waiting in the corner to make a mockery of something you said instead of discussing the topic on the Caf these days. If you have nothing to add, try only to read please.
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Have a little think about the semantics of the quip I made instead of getting upset. A lengthy and structured essay isn’t the only way of getting a point across.
 
MrMourinho#7 said:
How funny of you. Maybe giving an insight about the player (if you have any) instead of making childish jokes would add much more to the thread though. Jeez, it's like someone is always waiting in the corner to make a mockery of something you said instead of discussing the topic on the Caf these days. If you have nothing to add, try only to read please.
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Oi! Pexbo is RedCaf royalty, like the Pope or Elvis.
 
Solius said:
We all said Pogba was the midfielder we'd been missing, then we said Matic was the player we'd been missing and would free up Pogba and now Fred is the player we've been missing. I'll reserve judgement because our style of football seems to mean our midfield has no bearing on our play.
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Agreed but also happy it looks like we're addressing the areas needed and starting early in the window. To be fair, Matic did seem to unlock something in Pogba early in the season before his injury. I don't think any one player will improve us immensely but if we can finally sort the many holes we've had we should look better and I can get excited about that.
 
I am really excited with this transfer. From watching some videos I can't understand any comparisons with Fernandinho. They are nothing alike. Fred looks like a proper box to box midfielder capable of driving through the midfield and also picking out some really good through balls .He plays with a lot of energy and he can also help build up from midfield like Dembele does for Tottenham. He doesn't seem to be fazed with someone pressing him and I think this is key because we have lacked composure in our midfield sometimes. Herrera always looks to pass back to where the ball comes from even if he has acres of space. Fellaini is Fellaini. With Fred i think we will be a different team in attack.
 
Solius said:
We all said Pogba was the midfielder we'd been missing, then we said Matic was the player we'd been missing and would free up Pogba and now Fred is the player we've been missing. I'll reserve judgement because our style of football seems to mean our midfield has no bearing on our play.
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To be fair, right from the moment we were seriously being linked to Pogba there were many people on here saying that he wasn't really suited for a midfield two, and that whether we signed him or not we'd still need to look for a midfielder who would sit a bit deeper and control the team around.

Whether Fred is the right person I have no idea, but he does look to be the right 'type' of player.
 
Don't know anything about him nor seen him play.

Hopefully he is a good signing.
 
Zlatan, Mkhitaryan, Lindelof, Sanchez, Pogba..

Can't wait to see what a sterling success Fred is under our oh so motivational special one..
 
Far more excited about Jose shaking up the coaching staff (Carrick and McKenna) than any signing this summer.

But Fred, from the admittedly very little I've seen, has the tools to push towards a more progressive style of football. Good at resisting press and recycling possession, can make incisive forward passes to aid our counters.
 
Johan07 said:
So, as promised I will provide a short scouting report on Fred after todays Ukrainian cupfinal between Dynamo and Shaktar, in what was the teams fifth meeting this season. It will be six on May 19th when they face off in the last game of the league.

The game (played in Dnepr) finished Dynamo vs Shaktar: 0-2. Fred as usual played in a double pivot in midfield with Shaktar´s captain Stepanenko. The game was pretty close in the first half with Dynamos Ukrainian kids almost getting the better of a way more experienced Shaktar side. Shaktar - as they should - took over in the second half and scored the two goals of the game.

Fred was booked, provided the "second" assist for Shaktar´s first goal and won the freekick that finished off the game. He was (as usual) one of Shaktar´s better players. I´d give him a 7 out of 10. Also as usual he didnt stand out in particular.

For you that havent seen Fred play, he is a very allround defensive midfielder. Good energy level, decent passing and he can carry the ball forward when needed. Not the biggest player but has that low center of gravity that helps him out in many situations. He is not a flashy player, more of a grinder that is good on the ball. How he would look defensively in a high tempo PL-game I have no idea, and thats one of the obvious caveats with him going to the PL.

I am still very much on the fence how he would do in the PL. Especially in United or another top team. See what I wrote earlier about the quality of the Ukrainian league nowadays. I am still surprised about the figures that being quoted for a player that might turn out to be on an Everton or Southampton level when stepping up just not one level, but several.

Dynamo of today is a team of Ukrainian kids that would struggle to make top 5 in the Dutch league, and I would expect a prospective United midfielder to dominate way more in the few competative games Shaktar plays every season.

I will try to contribute a bit more after the next Dynamo vs Shaktar game here in Kyiv in 10 days.
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......

So:Fred didnt play the season finale at Olimpiskiija against Dynamo Kyiv. A game that Dynamos kids won 2-1 btw, if anyone is interested. So I dont have so much to contribute further to what I wrote earlier.

But again: Take it easy people: we are talking about a player from the Ukrainian league. Shaktar plays more or less 12 competitive games a year, 6 or so in the CL and 6 against Dynamo (after the redo of the Ukrainian premier league that effectively made Dynamo play Shaktar four times instead of two).

Fred is not going to come in and dominate the United midfield. He might adapt and be a good/great player in a season or two. He might flop also.

To hyperbolically refer to him as a better player than Herrera today is incorrect and almost laughable. He might develop though, they are similar players.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Agree with that. In the big matches Ander tends to show up and we've done well. Fred seems more adventurous but I doubt he has Ander's underrated defensive positioning and tracking back. But he does have more physical power and can dribble.
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Herrera is criminally underrated these days, having been in poor form early on and then missing a large chunk of the season. I would personally rather upgrade Matic to a more mobile holding midfielder who can dictate play better, as I think that would get more out of Pogba (Paredes, Barella, Neves, Jorginho...). Don't get me wrong, Matic has far exceeded my expectations, but he was noticeably leggy after christmas. A midfield of Herrera/Fred/Pogba could be interesting.

We'd get much more out of Herrera too, if we played a higher line and pressed more (although you only have to look at Jones' calamity in the final to realise why Jose is reluctant to do so).
 
Reckoned that we need a player like Masch/Makelele. But I wouldn't say no to Fernandinho/Kante type also. It seems like Fred is the latter.

I love Matic and all that, but it is obvious we lack this energy in midfield. Herrera sometimes could do that, but he's so inconsistent there, and his tackling is even worse than Scholes.

I think this signing is good for Pogba. Now we can see if he can step-up to become the lynchpin of our midfield. I think he has all the tool to success, but the application is severely sporadic so far.
 
Hopefully the 1st new cog in the midfield engine room,get the impression Jose wants to overhaul the midfield with 2 quality additions,Fred being one and would not be a surprise if we get Savic late in the window also.
 
Red Devil Rising said:
Zlatan, Mkhitaryan, Lindelof, Sanchez, Pogba..

Can't wait to see what a sterling success Fred is under our oh so motivational special one..
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That's the spirit!
With quality posts like this, i bet you'll be promoted to the mains in no time!
This alone will probably give you atleast 3 likes.

Zlatan was good, Sanchez and Pogba had several MotM matches for us, and will be important players for us next season. Lindelöf is still quite young, and played alright after the first couple matches.
 
Nickosaur said:
Far more excited about Jose shaking up the coaching staff (Carrick and McKenna) than any signing this summer.

But Fred, from the admittedly very little I've seen, has the tools to push towards a more progressive style of football. Good at resisting press and recycling possession, can make incisive forward passes to aid our counters.
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This.
Shows he's learning and is here to build and face the challenge.
Can't wait for next season.
 
Jose's comments on Brazilians really gave the agents leverage to use Uniteds name.

Don't be surprised if Club X "swoops him away last minute" and it turns out United were never interested.
 
Isotope said:
Reckoned that we need a player like Masch/Makelele. But I wouldn't say no to Fernandinho/Kante type also. It seems like Fred is the latter.

I love Matic and all that, but it is obvious we lack this energy in midfield. Herrera sometimes could do that, but he's so inconsistent there, and his tackling is even worse than Scholes.

I think this signing is good for Pogba. Now we can see if he can step-up to become the lynchpin of our midfield. I think he has all the tool to success, but the application is severely sporadic so far.
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Fact is, any world class player should have "stepped-up" with Matic and Herrera. Does Pogba need his 2 teammates to be absolutely top level for him to be so? That makes little sense.

Pogba's inconsistency has more to do with himself than his teammates.
 
GM K said:
Good points.

Here's something Fred himself said. I culled it from an ESPN article:

"Fonseca allows me to play both offensively and defensively and my main task is to change the direction of attacking moves. Under Lucescu, forwards and full-backs were responsible for that, but now I am the conductor. Everything had changed completely. The coach trusts me and sees qualities that went unnoticed by Lucescu,"

This says a lot about how he thinks in offensive and defensive terms and how he prefers to play. If Jose buys him for this, we might be in for a treat.
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Love that. It's exactly what we need.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
Jose's comments on Brazilians really gave the agents leverage to use Uniteds name.

Don't be surprised if Club X "swoops him away last minute" and it turns out United were never interested.
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Don’t be surprised if he signs for United.
 
Is it me or does his close ball control in tight spaces not look too great?
 
Solius said:
We all said Pogba was the midfielder we'd been missing, then we said Matic was the player we'd been missing and would free up Pogba and now Fred is the player we've been missing. I'll reserve judgement because our style of football seems to mean our midfield has no bearing on our play.
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Ive said this before its our full backs and lack of balance
 
Kapardin said:
Fact is, any world class player should have "stepped-up" with Matic and Herrera. Does Pogba need his 2 teammates to be absolutely top level for him to be so? That makes little sense.

Pogba's inconsistency has more to do with himself than his teammates.
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To certain extend, I agreed that he should do better. But he has proved with Juve that his ceilling is higher than what he has displayed so far. Also he's shown glimpses of being an attacking threat this season.

About Herrera, I've never been a fan of him. I think his tactical position awareness is not up to standard for top player.
 
Isotope said:
Reckoned that we need a player like Masch/Makelele. But I wouldn't say no to Fernandinho/Kante type also. It seems like Fred is the latter.

I love Matic and all that, but it is obvious we lack this energy in midfield. Herrera sometimes could do that, but he's so inconsistent there, and his tackling is even worse than Scholes.

I think this signing is good for Pogba. Now we can see if he can step-up to become the lynchpin of our midfield. I think he has all the tool to success, but the application is severely sporadic so far.
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I kinda agree with this

I think the best balance for us would be a Kante and a Kroos - Matic is a nice big lad and all but he's not superb at any of the roles for me - box to box, playmaker, enforcer - he just seems to do them all ok

as for Pogba I hope so - he's the most important player in our team in many ways linking our rigid midfield and defence to a sometimes isolated attack
 
Ramshock said:
Ive said this before its our full backs and lack of balance
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It's our midfield more than our full backs. Jose didn't intend to play McTominay for long stretches but he was clearly obliged to. Carricks heart condition, Herrera out for almost 2 months, Fellaini for 2 months, Pogba for more than 1 month, etc.
 
Ramshock said:
Ive said this before its our full backs and lack of balance
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Definitely need new full-backs. We’ve seen how much that helped City. If we want the style of football to improve though then we need a new manager. Mourinho won’t change and the more we complain the more he’ll stubbornly dig his heels in.
 
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