The problem with this combo more than anything is that Matic can't maintain the energy to have a good 90 minutes, so once he runs out of steam, our ability to keep a tight midfield completely collapses, leaving us with Fred having to come into our half. Fred is horrendous in open spaces against the run or pass. He's not really a good ball winner and is poor on the ball. This leaves us completely scrambling after 50 minutes of a game, relying on Bruno's long balls or moments of counter attacking brilliance from our front line. The key to all our problems come from our midfield, both with Ole and without Ole. It has nothing to do with management, its the personnel in midfield. It has nothing to do with shape either. When Pogba isn't in midfield, we can't and haven't been able to retain possession in the last 3 years. Not because he is phenomenal, but because he's the only midfielder we have with any offensive impetus on the ball. Defensively, what we have are runners, not ball winners, not defensive midfielders, just an old Matic that can only last for 45 minutes and a bunch of non tackling, non passing, no physical presence or first touch having runners. Then we as fans have the audacity to expect our forward players and backline to perform. There's a reason the midfield is called the engine room of a team, because that's where games are controlled and we have spent almost ten years either waiting for teams to drop deep because they are scared of being attacked or having to fight out games. From the Fellaini's, Herrera's and Schneiderlin's to the Fred's and Mctominay's of this world, we have always been in situations where our midfield is weak ( especially when you take into account that Pogba has been injured for the majority of his run here). In the summer, keep Bruno and completely refresh the midfield, its just not good enough.
