[roonster09]

Yes. It was a three man midfield with one defensive player (Fred) and Pogba/McTominay in more attacking roles.

This is the midfield system I want us to use going forwards. Two defensive midfielders hurts us as an attacking force and is only necessary because Matic isn't good enough to do the job by himself. I thought we would need to buy a new DM to replace him in the summer because we had spent so much of the season misusing Fred in a more attacking role but now we seem to have finally realised where he should be playing that could be unnecessary and the money can be spent on other areas.

Yeah, Fred as a deep midfielder works well. He is very good ball winner too and has excellent work rate. Apart from all that he is proper 2 footed player, so his passing range/vision/angles are not restricted.

I'm guessing there is more to come. He is in and out of the side, so hard for players to play their natural game. We need to give him and McTominay run of games till end of season to see what they can do.

 

[GDaly95]

I honestly believe he'll be the upgrade on Herrera we all hoped and expected him to be. He breaks up play effectively, spreads the play well without having an exceptional range of passing, brings a lot of intensity to our midfield and is very positive in trying to go forward, sometimes to his detriment.

Think he will continue to improve and I'm confident he'll be a worthy starter next season.

 

[MadMike]

He's starting to look like a player isn't he?

 

[Mcking]

He was our best player against Wolves too, but many were blinded by the mistake he made.

 

[Nialinho]

I was at the game last night and thought he was brilliant. Seems to win the ball back a lot, technically gifted and can pick a pass. There's a player in there but it's obviously been a struggle for him adjusting to the pace of the EPL. Once we hopefully upgrade the squad a bit this summer, he could flourish in a Fernandinho-style holding mid role for a fitter more attack minded team.

 

[deafepl]

He was our best player against Wolves too, but many were blinded by the mistake he made.

And Arsenal too

 

[Ekeke]

He was our best player against Wolves too, but many were blinded by the mistake he made.

McTominay was clearly better, scored, didnt make a mistake leading to a goal and wasnt subbed off

Typical Redcafe, someone finally has the level of performance thats expected of them and a bunch of posters want to make out like its been that way for weeks

 

[Untd55]

I think if he was at Man City, he would be perfect for them.

I guarantee if Man City signed him instead of us people would be bemoaning us losing out on him.

Fred is that good. Because he has rarely played and has made a few mistakes (Arsenal was not a penalty; unlucky that he slipped against Wolves) people seem blind to his ability.

Quality passer (only just behind Pogba for me); great at winning back the ball; forward-thinker; intelligent; energetic; seems a big game player (best performances have been against PSG and Barcelona).

 

[deafepl]

I think if he was at Man City, he would be perfect for them.

I guarantee if Man City signed him instead of us people would be bemoaning us losing out on him.

Fred is that good. Because he has rarely played and has made a few mistakes (Arsenal was not a penalty; unlucky that he slipped against Wolves) people seem blind to his ability.

Quality passer (only just behind Pogba for me); great at winning back the ball; forward-thinker; intelligent; energetic; seems a big game player (best performances have been against PSG and Barcelona).

I think Fred is a lot better than Pogba at short passes, even with both feet. Pogba has better long passing range, that's how I see it as.

 

[Mcking]

McTominay was clearly better, scored, didnt make a mistake leading to a goal and wasnt subbed off

Typical Redcafe, someone finally has the level of performance thats expected of them and a bunch of posters want to make out like its been that way for weeks

McTominay was good too.

 

[Member 90887]

He was pretty good the last games he played. you can actually see why we bought him and what Jose saw in him. hopefully he'll be the upgrade of Herrera that we need. considering that the latter is leaving. Perfect timing as well.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

McTominay was clearly better, scored, didnt make a mistake leading to a goal and wasnt subbed off

Typical Redcafe, someone finally has the level of performance thats expected of them and a bunch of posters want to make out like its been that way for weeks

None of what you’ve said there counters the idea that Fred played well against Wolves. Which he did.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

None of what you’ve said there counters the idea that Fred played well against Wolves. Which he did.

He did was was expected off him. It was a 6/10 performance at best. And certainly below what was expected off him when we bought him.

 

[Mr PG]

Been exceptional since psg game. Much better player than Herrera. We don't need to be paying over 100k for backups like Herrera as we can use Garner etc.

 

[bond19821982]

Is much better as box to box midfielder . Not sure why he is playing in Matic role. Is it because of Pogba who plays in the same position and he can't play at RCM?

With him and McT stepping up, I think Herrera wouldn't be a loss.

 

[haram]

Scott and Fred have a big chance now that it looks like Ander is leaving. If he is actually injured they can keep him out of the team until the season is done if they keep it up.

 

[flappyjay]

Is much better as box to box midfielder . Not sure why he is playing in Matic role. Is it because of Pogba who plays in the same position and he can't play at RCM?

With him and McT stepping up, I think Herrera wouldn't be a loss.

I think at the moment he is the best option there. At this point Matic should be a back up we bring on to close out games .

 

[settembrini]

Asking Fred to play box to box is expecting too much from him, we've seen that all season. Only in the last couple of games have we used him in the deep defensive position he played for Shaktar and we are finally starting to see him play well.

 

[Zlatattack]

Asking Fred to play box to box is expecting too much from him, we've seen that all season. Only in the last couple of games have we used him in the deep defensive position he played for Shaktar and we are finally starting to see him play well.

i didn't know tht. Assumed he was box to box at Shaktar too. Did he play as part of a double pivot there, or was he the sole CDM?

 

[Hoboman]

i didn't know tht. Assumed he was box to box at Shaktar too. Did he play as part of a double pivot there, or was he the sole CDM?

Played in double pivot alongside Stepanenko

 

[goin4glory]

Fred is an excellent midfielder when used right. Can transition from defence to attack and is a very good ball winner, also excellent in playing vs the counter.

 

[Frank Grimes]

I think Fred is a lot better than Pogba at short passes, even with both feet. Pogba has better long passing range, that's how I see it as.

He's better at moving the ball quicker, Pogba could play any ball Fred can play with his eyes closed but his tendancy to put his foot on the ball and dilly dally is a big flaw in his game.

 

[Hugh Jass]

I thought he was our best player. Closely followed by Mctominah.

 

[Snow]

38% sounds more reasonable considering we had them pinned back for periods. Where did you get that from? I got 33.5% off of whoscored.

It's the official stats from UEFA.

 

[Swiss_Red89]

Really really good yesterday. Started to like him around the psg game and i'm slowely becoming a fan. He has that "Barca midfield player" flair (whatever that is) imo, lovely to watch when playing good.

Hope we see a lot of him until the end of this and then next season.

 

[purgethefallen]

Do you mean the one where De Gea made 11 saves...?

11 saves maybe, but only a couple actually stretched him. People have made far too much about the 11 saves but ignored the quality that was needed to make the save. If you re-watch that game, Lloris actually had to make just as many, if not more, good saves than DDG.

 

[red_de_pologne]

11 saves maybe, but only a couple actually stretched him. People have made far too much about the 11 saves but ignored the quality that was needed to make the save. If you re-watch that game, Lloris actually had to make just as many, if not more, good saves than DDG.

I was replying to a poster who said Spurs didn't have a shot on target in this game.

 

[Ekeke]

So Fred, now that I think about it, is pretty much what I wanted us to do with Daley Blind when he signed and started out in CM. Makes some defensive actions but also passes well releasing the more offensive players. Similar to Carrick too of course. Blind eventually converted into a good ball playing CB and I think we miss him there too, but this was the role that I personally always felt he could play for us.

He played 17 games out of 25 in that DM spot in 14/15

I guess in a way Fred replaced him as a DM option, coming in as he left this summer although clearly Mourinho wasnt using him in that midfield role.

Anyway moving on now because it has happened, hopefully Fred can fully adjust to the premier league and we don't waste a lot of his time at the club as it seems we did with Blind and Ander coming in and playing well, then we try to replace them with big signings who dont play as well and they lose momentum and suddenly its been 4 or 5 seasons and they were only a first team starter in 3 of them or something, despite having runs showing their quality and talent.

 

[Holocene]

Good little player. Always looking to pass the ball forward. Happy we have him.

 

[mewnew11]

Was good again. His game is picking up every outin. He still has a few errors but with regular starts and confidence I am sure he will assist a few goals too

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

Getting better but can't be the player we have the deepest. Needs a defensive player badly.

 

[Zoo]

Good game. One of our best players.

 

[arthurka]

Very solid, one of the bright spots from todays performance..

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Maybe our best player today. Although few did that well. Better with the ball than Pogba mostly. Tackles well although sometimes rush into things a bit too much.

 

[Solius]

He's class. His passes are always perfectly how the player needs to receive it. I get frustrated a lot of our passes always tend to be slightly behind the running player which forces him to stop his run. One ball out to Lukaku stood out to me as even though it was with his left foot he hit it with the outside and it was perfect.

Improved massively with his positioning and hussling about the midfield area. He can nick it back and start a counter extremely well.

 

[Yagami]

In possession, bar losing it in a risky position again, he was good I thought. Defensively, he was a bit lost.

 

[LJJT]

Played really well, went down hill after 70 mins but was our best player I think. I prefer him to Matic and think he can be the defensive midfielder for us for next few years

 

[mu4c_20le]

He's getting better. Did well in a tough game, and looked pretty confident with is passing.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

One of the only players I’m not annoyed with today.

 

[Ekeke]

He was okay, had some good moments but the task of dealing with West Ham with a CM partner who had little effort or interest in defending was too much for him on the day. Needed a McTominay or Ander to the right of him.