Fred

I've been a big champion of Fred this year. When he is playing well, he is such an important part of the way we press and play at a high tempo.

But he has been shocking for a good few games in a row now

He's absolutely useless on attacking. Just another body, sometimes even more helpful for the opposition than us in that regard.

Never has and never will work next to Matic. If only our manager realised it.

He is not good enough, he can't control the ball and his passing is always erratic. Won't even talk about his shooting. Always unhits the pass or overhits, always looks he is about to fall when controlling the ball.

Not good enough. His passing at times is horrendous

He’s a decent player when you’re happy not to have a lot of the ball. Which makes him fecking useless for 80-90% of our games. And even the sitting back and looking to counter in big games doesn’t work anymore.

Fred is a player best suited for a team who are the underdogs, and the last 18 months or so he's shone in the role of an attack dog who chases, harasses & intercepts.

We're no longer the underdogs in the majority of our matches, we need players who are more capable of providing quality in attack.
That's not him, that's not his role and he doesn't have the skillset for it.

He needs to become a squad player.

The worst of it all is that he finds the ball in acres of space in midfield and does feck all with it going forward. Frustrating.

A few weeks ago i said he was a terrible passer of the ball and i was then obviously bombarded with a load of passing stats.

But while in some games he may be a competent passer if not the most graceful one. It doesn't change the fact he is a terrible, terrible passer of the ball.

He's a better player than the last few weeks have shown but his form right now is a big problem for us. We are badly missing Pogba.

A midfielder who offers zero attacking threat around the box, is not by any means a good passer, is constantly off balance, gives the ball/foul away in dangerous positons, can run a lot. 50million pounds. Sums us up

I appreciate what he has to offer and there is a place for him in our team and squad. But, in games like this tonight, he offers nothing. We need an upgrade and one who is willing to go forward and can actually do something when they are in or around the box, like shoot. He's not contributing with goals or assists, isn't useful in our attacking play and isn't going to spot great passes to unlock defences. Playing Fred and Matic really kills our midfield play.

You can never fault his workrate but when it comes to on the ball we need to check his passport to see if he's really Brazilian.

This a good example of being misleading. He is so limited on ball, it's unreal. His shooting is laughable and his passing is nothing more than hit and hope.

He's so abysmal it actually hurts to see him play football.
Sloppy, erratic and brainless. 52 millions. Daylight robbery.

Good luck to Ole, if he thinks that he can achieve anything with Fred, Matic and McT.

Bench player! United need a quality CDM to run the field.

stevoc said:

A few weeks ago i said he was a terrible passer of the ball and i was then obviously bombarded with a load of passing stats.

But while in some games he may be a competent passer if not the most graceful one. It doesn't change the fact he is a terrible, terrible passer of the ball.

He's a better player than the last few weeks have shown but his form right now is a big problem for us. We are badly missing Pogba.

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I can't believe people actually defend his passing. I'd get it if they stan him because of his running and ball winning abilities but it's very clear he's a terrible passer.

I really like Fred's energy, but my god, can someone please tell this guy he is not allowed to make anything more than a 10 yard pass? Please? The day he realizes his limitations is the day he becomes a very good player...

As I said in another thread, I've been critical of Fred lately but don't see what he's being criticized for tonight. Other than one poor free kick he gave away in a dangerous position (and one poor decision to shoot), what's he supposed to do? We could have had Pogba, Scholes or Xavi in the midfield tonight and they wouldn't have been able to create anything with the level of movement and ball control that our attackers were showing. Both Rashford and Greenwood were put into 1v1 situations multiple times (sometimes by Fred, sometimes by others). Rashford gave the ball away EVERY single time, and Greenwood just turned back inside EVERY single time and passed it back to the midfield. Greenwood never attempted to run in behind, Rashford barely did. It doesn't matter who was in midfield tonight, they wouldn't have been creating chances when there isn't anybody to create chances for.

Fred, along with perhaps Bruno, was the only one in the team trying to actually speed up the tempo and get the ball moving fast enough to pull Palace out of position. The only times he gave it away was when he was trying to play attacking passes to create something, which makes him an improvement over everyone else in the front six who were not only giving away attacking passes but also easy basic passes. Of course I'm not saying he was great (or even good), but he was the best of our front six players.

Sooner RedCafe stops trying to pretend he’s a great player the better.

One of the biggest problems in the side. Can’t be trusted as a 6, and can’t pass, create, or score goals as a 8.

My biggest concerns are about his defensive contributions rather than when he's on the ball.

He is a terrible terrible tackler.

When he has the ball, he's OK when he doesn't try to do too much with it. It works for some players. Not too fussed about it. However, whenever he wants to do something "extra" - that's when the problems start.

Not that he should be expected to do much offensively with 4 forwards and fullbacks pushing high.

NinjaZombie said:

I can't believe people actually defend his passing. I'd get it if they stan him because of his running and ball winning abilities but it's very clear he's a terrible passer.

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Some people judge football only through the medium of stats it seems instead of their eyes.

But as much as i like Fred's character and effort, watching him passing the ball around is brutal. He shouldn't play in games where we will most likely have a lot of most of the possession. Not unless Pogba is beside him.

He's the kind of player who if he was playing for Crystal Palace there wouldnt even be a thread on him on the transfer forum

He's guaranteed for at least 2 brainless fouls on the edge of our area every game.

Overall, I thought he knitted Palace's midfield together nicely.

stevoc said:

Some people judge football only through the medium of stats it seems instead of their eyes.

But as much as i like Fred's character and effort, watching him passing the ball around is brutal. He shouldn't play in games where we will most likely have a lot of most of the possession. Not unless Pogba is beside him.

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I dont think its fair to blame the stats, rather people only aknowleging ones that further their agenda and ignoring all the rest that show the real picture.

If you look at all the stats Fred is quite ordinary other than how much he runs around and presses, if you pretend only the ones where he does a bit better than some other midfielders are important well you could do that for any player

Hyperbole aside, I pass the ball better than Fred. He is that bad.

Ekeke said:

I dont think its fair to blame the stats, rather people only aknowleging ones that further their agenda and ignoring all the rest that show the real picture.

If you look at all the stats Fred is quite ordinary other than how much he runs around and presses, if you pretend only the ones where he does a bit better than some other midfielders are important well you could do that for any player

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To be fair you are right there. Stats alone are not the problem. As you say some people see what they want to with Fred.

stevoc said:

A few weeks ago i said he was a terrible passer of the ball and i was then obviously bombarded with a load of passing stats.

But while in some games he may be a competent passer if not the most graceful one. It doesn't change the fact he is a terrible, terrible passer of the ball.

He's a better player than the last few weeks have shown but his form right now is a big problem for us. We are badly missing Pogba.

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Haha, The passing stats don’t tell you the type of passes which is why it’s stupid to use it as a measuring point. I assume you pointed this out to the person who questioned you? I remember Leon Britton at Swansea having like a 97% pass completion ratio but I never saw him pass the ball forward anytime I watched him.

Basically Fred can pass fine until it needs to go any further than 7 yards.
Been clear for a while now. Hence why he has zero goal involvements.

Leroy The Red said:

Haha, The passing stats don’t tell you the type of passes which is why it’s stupid to use it as a measuring point. I assume you pointed this out to the person who questioned you? I remember Leon Britton at Swansea having like a 97% pass completion ratio but I never saw him pass the ball forward anytime I watched him.

Basically Fred can pass fine until it needs to go any further than 7 yards.
Been clear for a while now. Hence why he has zero goal involvements.

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Of course but it didn't deter them mate.

stevoc said:

A few weeks ago i said he was a terrible passer of the ball and i was then obviously bombarded with a load of passing stats.

But while in some games he may be a competent passer if not the most graceful one. It doesn't change the fact he is a terrible, terrible passer of the ball.

He's a better player than the last few weeks have shown but his form right now is a big problem for us. We are badly missing Pogba.

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the same. I was ridiculed by some posters, who’s argument was that he has a 90% pass completion stat. Then proceed to compare him to the best midfielders in the league - using one blunt stat.

watch the bloody game.

we had others argue he was not erratic in his passing. Go on own up, whoever you were

Ekeke said:

He's the kind of player who if he was playing for Crystal Palace there wouldnt even be a thread on him on the transfer forum

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100% true

Personally think he is woeful.

People often claim they could count the number of games Pogba has played very well in two hands.

Well that is probably actually true for Fred.

Fred truly does not excel at anything imo. Maybe running to his credit but that's not really a talent.

A Midfielder who cannot pass and is erratic as hell. We need to be playing him less next season either by Pogba being more fit and or signing another midifelder.

laughtersassassin said:

Fred truly does not excel at anything imo. Maybe running to his credit but that's not really a talent.

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Even if it was, Fred is a doper.

I have given up on him, his passing is so erratic, he always look he is about to fall when he is in possession and he is 0 goal threat. Hopefully we will get a upgrade in midfield this summer.

His passing is so fecking limited its so annoying. Anytime it's either going forward or further than 10 yards away or if the player isn't wide open, he seems to mishit it. Honestly can't quite believe how a midfielder like him has that bad of passing.

I get we let Herrera go cause he wanted too much money but he was much better than Fred.

And this is coming from someone who did rate Herrera much either.

His progressive passing is truly awful.

Funnily, McTominay is even worse than him in that regard.

He apparently gave an interview to ESPN Brazil where he says:

"But I kept working, looking for my best form. In the second season I had more chances, I managed to have a good season. And I think this season is definitely being my best. I’m having more games, playing with the coach’s confidence, with the confidence up there. This is important. I hope to continue doing a great job here, keep playing a lot, and I want to help the team win many titles.”

He thinks he had a good season last season, and that he's better this season (which would make it a very good season, I guess)...

He also hopes to continue doing a great job.

Absolute space cadet. He's rubbish.

Ekeke said:

He's the kind of player who if he was playing for Crystal Palace there wouldnt even be a thread on him on the transfer forum

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Would take him for free.

Erics_Collar said:

He apparently gave an interview to ESPN Brazil where he says:

"But I kept working, looking for my best form. In the second season I had more chances, I managed to have a good season. And I think this season is definitely being my best. I’m having more games, playing with the coach’s confidence, with the confidence up there. This is important. I hope to continue doing a great job here, keep playing a lot, and I want to help the team win many titles.”

He thinks he had a good season last season, and that he's better this season (which would make it a very good season, I guess)...

He also hopes to continue doing a great job.

Absolute space cadet. He's rubbish.

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He's absolutely right.

Erics_Collar said:

He apparently gave an interview to ESPN Brazil where he says:

"But I kept working, looking for my best form. In the second season I had more chances, I managed to have a good season. And I think this season is definitely being my best. I’m having more games, playing with the coach’s confidence, with the confidence up there. This is important. I hope to continue doing a great job here, keep playing a lot, and I want to help the team win many titles.”

He thinks he had a good season last season, and that he's better this season (which would make it a very good season, I guess)...

He also hopes to continue doing a great job.

Absolute space cadet. He's rubbish.

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He was good last season and this season. His form has been dropping off for a couple of months though, and it's dropped down to actually being poor for the last few weeks (although I thought he was ok against Palace, but seem to be alone in that).

Erics_Collar said:

He apparently gave an interview to ESPN Brazil where he says:

"But I kept working, looking for my best form. In the second season I had more chances, I managed to have a good season. And I think this season is definitely being my best. I’m having more games, playing with the coach’s confidence, with the confidence up there. This is important. I hope to continue doing a great job here, keep playing a lot, and I want to help the team win many titles.”

He thinks he had a good season last season, and that he's better this season (which would make it a very good season, I guess)...

He also hopes to continue doing a great job.

Absolute space cadet. He's rubbish.

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Emmm he was in the running for POTS last year, you must have forgotten how good he was and the fact he basically held our midfield together.