Why did we buy Fred?

luke511

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I can't believe we've bought a midfielder in Fred that can't consistently string a pass together, that was our biggest problem last year and we've just added to it in buying him. I remember watching highlights of him playing for Shakhtar and thinking his overall gameplay consistency wasn't anywhere near up to standard. Our scouts are absolutely clueless.
 

El Zoido

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He’s crap but at least he’s trying, which is more than you could say for other players.
 

luke511

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He’s crap but at least he’s trying, which is more than you could say for other players.
Yeah he's definitely not the worst player on the pitch at the moment, its just so obvious he wasn't what we needed in midfield, especially with Pogba already there. Incredibly frustrating.
 

Josep Dowling

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I can't believe we've bought a midfielder in Fred that can't consistently string a pass together, that was our biggest problem last year and we've just added to it in buying him. I remember watching highlights of him playing for Shakhtar and thinking his overall gameplay consistency wasn't anywhere near up to standard. Our scouts are absolutely clueless.
If it was true Guardiola wanted him surely he saw something? There is no way Fred’s poor passing would have been accepted by Guardiola.

We have done our usual, bought a player then used him completely different to his game. He isn’t a defensive midfielder but that’s exactly the role he has now. It’s the same throughout our squad.
 

Irwin99

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Looks a completely different player in Europe (against PSG and to a lesser extent Barca). Just seems to get overwhelmed by the intensity of the league.
 

Welbeckham

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I remember watching highlights of him playing for Shakhtar and thinking his overall gameplay consistency wasn't anywhere near up to standard. Our scouts are absolutely clueless.
I really didn’t understand the signing, let alone the transfer fee, because you could see by watching any video of him that he’s weak, slow, erratic and has a bad touch for a player of his position. And Shaktar didn’t really succeed in Europe during his time (compared with the previous generation), nor was he the absolute stand-out player in that team.
 

11101

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Looks a completely different player in Europe (against PSG and to a lesser extent Barca). Just seems to get overwhelmed by the intensity of the league.
He works well with McTominay. With Matic he is doing the running for both of them + Pogba. Just like when we expect Pogba to run the midfield on its own, it doesn't work.

He is good enough, im sure of that.
 

BlahRules

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He gives away the ball a lot of the time but some of the passes were not his fault. I just don’t understand why the players needs the ball to the feet, how hard would it be to move a bit.

The biggest issue with our team is that they are not willing to receive the call when they are on the move. We are too slow and predictable.
 

hobbers

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Why did we buy Fred?

To make Lukaku feel more like a professional footballer.
 

Enigma_87

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Not sure what his best quality is.

Crap in the build up, crap at retaining possession. Very poor awareness and positioning. Crap decision making...
 

Dansk

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As with 90% of our signings in the last six years, we bought him because he was quite good at his last club, but he promptly turned to shit when he arrived here. I don't know how many times in a row this has to happen before people realize there's something fundamentally wrong at the club and those players were actually fine. Bonus points if we then sell him on and he becomes good all of a sudden.
 

Josep Dowling

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He gives away the ball a lot of the time but some of the passes were not his fault. I just don’t understand why the players needs the ball to the feet, how hard would it be to move a bit.

The biggest issue with our team is that they are not willing to receive the call when they are on the move. We are too slow and predictable.
My biggest issues with the team for years. Our off the ball movement is shocking. We play like a netball team.
 

Kamprad

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He’s got the same problem as Martial. To arrogant and sloppy. It’s his first season in England, he’s been used in a role that doesn’t suit him, he’s probably lacking form and the whole team is playing bad BUT if United doesn’t miraculously start playing possession football next season he should be sold ASAP.
 

BlahRules

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My biggest issues with the team for years. Our off the ball movement is shocking. We play like a netball team.
Agree. We are the easier team to defend against, just cut the pass. The players don’t move to make the pass or even attempt to retain the ball if it’s not passed to the feet.

I have seen so many times where the city players didn’t pass the ball at the feet but run on to the ball.
 

Rolandofgilead

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If it was true Guardiola wanted him surely he saw something? There is no way Fred’s poor passing would have been accepted by Guardiola.

We have done our usual, bought a player then used him completely different to his game. He isn’t a defensive midfielder but that’s exactly the role he has now. It’s the same throughout our squad.
I pissed myself when I heard city were in for him, I really wanted it to be true.

Then I stopped laughing.
 

AlwaysRed66

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Mourinho got hammered for not playing the likes of Fred. He seems to be vindicated with a lot of these players. Pity his man management & tactics were so poor.
 

Welbeckham

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Mourinho got hammered for not playing the likes of Fred. He seems to be vindicated with a lot of these players. Pity his man management & tactics were so poor.
Mourinho is such a genius, really knew how to use Fred.

I said he was nowhere near good enough on his transfer thread based on what I had seen. Disappointingly, he has done nothing to prove me wrong since.
 

noodlehair

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He wasn't actually that bad tonight, just to point out. Not even the worst performance from a United midfielder in the last 5 days and unlike either Herrera or Matic in other recent derbies, he actually had the guts to try and pick a forward pass rather than just dick around with the ball or lump it up the pitch to nowhere.

Don't let that stop the over the top sillyness though
 

Ekeke

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Mourinho got hammered for not playing the likes of Fred. He seems to be vindicated with a lot of these players. Pity his man management & tactics were so poor.
Because he agreed to buy him :lol:

Ole is having to work around Mourinho's set up for the season and his squad
 

Beachryan

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My biggest issues with the team for years. Our off the ball movement is shocking. We play like a netball team.
Where's the old Zombie passing thread, that was legendary. Pretty sure it was under Fergie!
 

MrBest

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He works well with McTominay. With Matic he is doing the running for both of them + Pogba. Just like when we expect Pogba to run the midfield on its own, it doesn't work.

He is good enough, im sure of that.
This. Mctominay allows Fred to play football and they both work hard for the team. Until the end of the season i would have them both as starters.
 

The Nani

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He wasn't actually that bad tonight, just to point out. Not even the worst performance from a United midfielder in the last 5 days and unlike either Herrera or Matic in other recent derbies, he actually had the guts to try and pick a forward pass rather than just dick around with the ball or lump it up the pitch to nowhere.

Don't let that stop the over the top sillyness though
If his teammates would’ve shown for the ball more he wouldn't have given the ball away so much.

Am I doing it right ?
 

singhters

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It's his first season, came from a different league, give him a chance to settle.

Takes time for some players to settle in a different team a different environment, remember how long it took,

Andy Cole
Rvn
Ronaldo

took a season or 2 to really get going, some players can hit the ground running some it takes a little time.
 

MadMike

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Well why the hell did Mourinho buy him then!
We live in this parallel reality where people feel Mourinho is vindicated for not using shit players but not liable for buying them in the first place.

Same as when people backed him regarding the CB situation last summer, conveniently forgetting that he signed 2 of them (Bailly, Lindelof) and renewed a 3rd (Rojo) during his reign.

The “players are shit” excuse doesn’t wash when you’ve had 3 summer windows and 400m expenditure to fix it, yet you spunked it all away.
 

united for life

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Below average. One of the worst passers of the ball. He tries hard but he’s just not good enough. Another poor signing
 

matherto

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It's his first season, came from a different league, give him a chance to settle.

Takes time for some players to settle in a different team a different environment, remember how long it took,

Andy Cole
Rvn
Ronaldo

took a season or 2 to really get going, some players can hit the ground running some it takes a little time.
I agree in principle but RVN hit the ground running in the first game.