Fred was okay today. He was the one of the players in our team with Martinez who were winning the ball back. He was getting stuck in. McTominay was dreadful, hid for most of the game. He never shows for or demands the ball, he doesn't find space for others to pass to him. There was a United throw in today in front of us and 2 Brighton players just stood in front of McT on the halfway line and he didn't budge or make any attempt to receive the ball. We are 2 nil down at home in the opening game of the season, and our midfield don't even want the ball. We saw James Garner demanding the ball last weekend. Making the centre backs pass it to him, and moving the ball out in 2 touches. Savage did the same in pre-season. If McT, Shaw and Rashford start the next game, then we are in for a rocky season.
McFred as a midfield duo heading into 2022/23 season
- Thread starter Kush
- Start date
You for real?
Fred was awful, could have cost the team two goals.
McT was actually decent.
Same old shit, we don't have a top striker and we have zero options in central midfield, unless Ten Hag gets 2 midfielders, a Forward and a RB in the next 3 weeks, he's fecked, you can't polish the turds in this squad.
McFruno.
Change thread title please.
McFruno as a midfield trio heading into 2022/23 season.
Change thread title please.
McFruno as a midfield trio heading into 2022/23 season.
Just sign Frenkie already and drop Eriksen in midfield. Play Bruno on the wing and VDB as 10. No more McFred please.
I like Fred but this combo only work for counter attacking, and it's not that efficient even in that situation.
I’m convinced you’re trolling between this and advocating for former Stoke players.
Why can't we experiment? Fergie used to do it all the time, and we managed to get by. Surely there are players on the team who can do better. Martinez has a great range of passing and could do a good job with Varane back, Lindelof isn't a bad shout either. I mean we can't just accept that this is the best we could find. I'd rather go with Savage and Iqbal.
Cant believe what people are watching these days
One game okay.... I'll give Erik the benefit of the doubt but if he keeps starting these two regularly I want him sacked before January.
In Harry Maguire performance thread last year…
Lentwood said:
Interesting. If it’s beloved Maguire, it’s an agenda right?
I’m not suggesting they should be starting but Savage and Iqbal are better than these two. You’ll say that’s ridiculous but it’s true. They are better footballers
De Jong will go a long way to help but we should be signing three players and putting McFred on the transfer list
De Jong will go a long way to help but we should be signing three players and putting McFred on the transfer list
Seems like you could write "get any other midfielder playing for any other PL club" on that sticky note. Probably could expand that to cover Spain, Italy, France while you're at it.
Absolutely. I exercised caution throughout this summer as the caf descended into ‘well ETH won’t stand for this’ and ‘ETH won’t stand for that’. We have no idea what he will and won’t stand for, and he has to show me first before I blindly label him the messiah.
I have no time in this ‘so are you saying you know more than the manager’ shit anymore. YES. That is exactly what I am saying if his grand plan is to go through the season with this midfield. The PL is only getting better and better every year. More technical, more organised. Teams are passing triangles around us every week. I can see that this midfield will take us nowhere, and ANY manager who feels otherwise will no longer get any support from me. If Ten Hag thinks he can build a team with McFred as regular starters then feck him, he deserves the inevitable sack that will come and I will rejoice when it arrives so that, once again, I can hold some renewed hope that our manager does not feel that this midfield is in anyway acceptable.
As I have said, this is all an IF here, and we may yet change our midfield. But if we do not, then Ten Hag can feck off too as far as I am concerned. Any manager from now on that feels that Scott McTominay is hood enough to start weekly for us needs to go. Simple as that as far as I am concerned.
I agree. I was completely shocked by this. Even more so when he knows Donny so well and what he can bring to the team ahead of those 2. He also has Garner there but opts for those 2. Many Ajax fans said a negative quality he has is there's never a plan B with him and I could actually see that today.
At 0-2 down he looked completely out of his dept and kept on walking around clenching his teeth looking stressed. Also a very bizzarre triple sub in the 90th.
The problem with playing these 2 is that they are box to box midfielders. They will run all over the fields and leave gaps in the center. They are not dicipline enough to stay deep in the midfield. Eriksen was much better then them playing that role in the second half. I would start with Fred + Eriksen in the next game.
Agreed. Well said.
Both can leave but won't due to wages
Yeah, but Ten Hag is a miracle worker and will soon turn McTominay into Keane just as Jesus turned water into wine.
Don't really understand media and fans obsessing with McFred for today's performance. They are average footballers. So they show average performances. It is not their fault that they are the first choice players. If we behave like a mid table club, this is what we get.
I have a lingering concern that you're McTom himself
You accused me of not supporting the player when I meerly predicted his performance based on 4 years of statistis, and today's game proved me right again and again. Am I delighted? Not a single bit, I was devastated, my weekend was ruined as our team was taken apart. I really wanted McTom to play well, I really do, but his horribly average abilities will inevitably reflect into his performance on the pitch.
What I found baffling is your full trust in him, there's no logic in that at all. When Ole's our manager, we were a countering team, then yes, he had a somewhat usefull role to play. But now we are transforming into a possesion based, front-foot team that require midfielders to have technical skills, football IQ, press resistance, passing ability. Things that McTom sadly doesn't possess.
Last edited:
They are far worse than average.
It's because midfield is foundational to our performance, and they really reverted the entire preseason back to last season.
If these 2 are still starting 6 months in, ETH is a fool.
I truly hope we go away from them both going forward.
I truly hope we go away from them both going forward.
Yes I understand that, but that is their level. McT and Fred are not capable of putting in consistent good performances. They are average to low quality. And they will play in that way.
Next game they may put in a decent performance, but that is an exception. I just don't understand this noise in the media. What were they expecting?
And replace them with whom? It is not like we have replacements lined up. Our best bet is someone from academy suddenly becoming awesome.
The fact that the club and ETH went into the 1st game with those 2 still starting is absolutely criminal.
Someone failed massively this summer window and we already lost 3 points from it.
McTominay is hopeless and should be demoted to the reserves. Promote someone. They literally can't be worse than him.
Hopefully the club secures De Jong, so they can push Fred a bit further up in his natural position.
Otherwise, we'll get a repeat of the Brighton game all season.
It just amazes me that some people still defend Fred. He has been consistently terrible and makes regular costly mistakes, gives the ball away too easily with sloppy passes and is easily pushed off the ball. McTominay is highly limited and we should sell him but I think Fred is worse and would nearly rather play with ten men than have him in the team. If we want to get anywhere we just need the two of them out the door, but no sign of that happening.
The truth is that Savage is attracting interest from League 2 clubs about going out on loan- he is way off the calibre of player we need in the Prem. Iqbal is clearly talented but played zero mens football and wouldn’t cope physically at the moment.
I think ETH will have had a shock today and seen first hand what a McFred midfield looks like! No way will he start them together again unless he absolutely has to! He needs players confident in possession to implement his system! We desperately need two midfielders in the next few weeks though!!
I would be shocked if he didn't know already. McFred have been bad for ages. And anyone who has done his homework and been with the team for few weeks would know that.
It is not like it has not been pointed out before. They have been focussed on multiple times in the media.
Neither should be starting at a club with Champions League ambitions.
I understand that it's risky but I'd genuinely rather take a punt on Garner or Iqbal than have both McTominay and Fred playing midfield again. If we somehow fail to sign a deep-lying midfielder for a third summer, which now looks highly feasible, I'd like to see us at least attempt something new rather than persist with players who are patently not up to it.
I understand that it's risky but I'd genuinely rather take a punt on Garner or Iqbal than have both McTominay and Fred playing midfield again. If we somehow fail to sign a deep-lying midfielder for a third summer, which now looks highly feasible, I'd like to see us at least attempt something new rather than persist with players who are patently not up to it.
I rate Fred but absolutely not as a DM receiving the ball off the defenders.
McTominay just isn't good enough.
It was criminal that this combo was what was available to Ten Hag on the first day of the season.
McTominay just isn't good enough.
It was criminal that this combo was what was available to Ten Hag on the first day of the season.
Let's just get one thing clear.
They were both shite.
They are both shite and if they are what we end up with for the season then we are doomed to another season of mostly frustrating performances and negative results
McT may have been the better of the two yesterday however that's nothing to get excited about as it's one level of shit against another
We desperately need midfielders