A midfield trio of Fred, McTominay and Bruno

[JPRouve]

Would it be worse to focus on Eriksen and the kids or Eriksen, one of the kids and one of the infernal trio?

I get the idea that we don't want to burn the kids but we need to play them anyway, we need to know if they have anything to offer and we need to give them genuine trust for at least a year or two. Now of course signing a proven player or two would be good for short terms results but even if we didn't, I struggle to buy the idea that Bruno, Fred and McTominay should be given more than a month, if they don't fix themselves up by mid september they should be end of bench players because they are a waste of developmental minutes.

And I know that it's a bit of a kneejerk take.

 

[Tyrion]

Tbf, Matić was pretty good at it too. Just way past it.

Blind tried, but not good enough for it in the PL.

I actually thought Matic was a good signing but you're right, it was a few years too late.

 

[TMDaines]

Said it before:

Wish I had a screenshot, but there was a point where Maguire is on the ball and pretty high up the pitch. He has no real outlet to pass to and points at Fred to move into a position he can pass to. Fred insists on hiding behind a BHA player instead of making himsef available so they can move forwards with the ball. As a result the ball goes sideways/backwards and the whole unit needs to track back, killing momentum.

Great post. Me and my mate were aghast at the exact same moment. Impossible task for our centre backs to progress the ball consistently with a goalkeeper who cannot join the play and midfielders who don’t have the instinct to move for and play the ball.

 

[Cloudface]

I thought Donny looked pretty good when he came on. With Donny and Eriksen I'd at least be confident our midfielders could control a football, even if they have their own limitations.

DvB - Eriksen - Fred/Bruno

Until we get more players I don't see how we can play any other way without massively exposing ourselves.

 

[El Jefe]

Ole's lasting legacy.

 

[Chris M]

Most people agree with McTominay and Fred not being up to the job, but Fernandes is still living off his first six months in the premier league when he was a newcomer, he has never reached those heights again and never will. Maybe stay as a squad player in a front three but not in midfield where when he loses the ball he falls as if he has been shot, leaving the defense open and under pressure.

 

[Pscholes18]

Slightly worried that ETH found it okay to go into a game with these three.
For all their individual flaws, they all have something in common, they are all poor ball players.
I believe any combination that sees even two of them play together is asking for trouble.

Might as well stick three statues out there.

 

[MuFc_1992]

If Ten Hag is hell bent on keeping Maguire in the team than we should at least experiment with midfield trio of Eriksen, Martinez and Donny and play Varane in defense. Bruno should be binned because we cannot afford to have someone in the team who is so careless in possession when playing high line.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Hard to play possession footy when you have players who are averse to playing possession footy. Dalot, Mctominay, Fred and Bruno just don't fit with that style and playing them will hurt ETH if he sticks with them.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Most people agree with McTominay and Fred not being up to the job, but Fernandes is still living off his first six months in the premier league when he was a newcomer, he has never reached those heights again and never will. Maybe stay as a squad player in a front three but not in midfield where when he loses the ball he falls as if he has been shot, leaving the defense open and under pressure.

We simply arent ruthless as a club and our standards have fallen drastically.

Bruno's first 6 months bought him a new contract amidst shit form and another 5-7 years at the club regardless of his level. We built him up into a hero and now we're stuck with him. Mctominay burst on to the scene as an eager young academy product who put himself about. Comparisons to Roy Keane were made, SAF told Jose to play him more infornt of cameras and despite looking like a championship level CM he somehow has a place at this football club with no signs of being offloaded.

The hardest thing about United is getting your foot in. After that it doesn't take much to stay. This lot got pasted by everyone last season yet they carry on business as usual.

 

[TheLord]

Slightly worried that ETH found it okay to go into a game with these three.
For all their individual flaws, they all have something in common, they are all poor ball players.
I believe any combination that sees even two of them play together is asking for trouble.

You write as if ETH had a lot of options. Either those or go with untested 18-year-olds in the first game of the season.

Our squad is a total mess. There's not one player in the squad who'd start for a proper team like City or Liverpool.

 

[oz insomniac]

At 25 , I was a 6’3“ 90kg half decent player , fair haired as well. My resemblance playing in a non pro league to McTom is that I wasn’t fast enough off the mark to go any higher, looking at McTom I just shrug my shoulders and think, that could have been me. Of course I’m retired and have delusions of my ability, but wtf is a player with those deficiencies we see every game playing regularly for ManUtd, answer is no friggin idea.

An occasional fill in seems to fit the top level of his ability, nowhere near a regular starter, waking up to this result wasn’t a surprise given the knobheads at the pointy end of the club, if they ( Arnold, Murtaugh and Fletcher) coudnt see that the midfield and a striker named Martial was going to be an issue, then they are just Woodward/Glazer know nothing appointments. The dividend kings win again

 

[bosnian_red]

A midfield with no control and no composure. A midfield that at least should have energy... But couldn't provide that either today. Not against trying to bring in Garner, donny and Eriksen as the 3.

 

[lex talionis]

At 25 , I was a 6’3“ 90kg half decent player , fair haired as well. My resemblance playing in a non pro league to McTom is that I wasn’t fast enough off the mark to go any higher, looking at McTom I just shrug my shoulders and think, that could have been me. Of course I’m retired and have delusions of my ability, but wtf is a player with those deficiencies we see every game playing regularly for ManUtd, answer is no friggin idea.

An occasional fill in seems to fit the top level of his ability, nowhere near a regular starter, waking up to this result wasn’t a surprise given the knobheads at the pointy end of the club, if they ( Arnold, Murtaugh and Fletcher) coudnt see that the midfield and a striker named Martial was going to be an issue, then they are just Woodward/Glazer know nothing appointments. The dividend kings win again

Funny you post this, as I had the same feeling about myself in relation to McTominay watching him play. In truth McTominay is a million times better than I ever was but when I watch him play I see a player who’s only taller than me, and no doubt in better physical condition than I ever was, but whose skills are as pedestrian as mine were at the same age.

I don’t see in him a player who has developed in any way since Mourinho gave him his chance. He charges hard into tackles and has a decent shot from distance but has no ability to pick a challenging pass or create chances in the last third. Truly a mind-boggling decision by all these managers to keep playing him.

 

[Borys]

spot on. Fred and Scott aren’t the answer but feck me I’m not surprised they get overrun often playing against 3 or 4 whilst Bruno is stat padding.

There's actually an interesting discussion on MOTD that all clubs have 7 field players defensively oriented, while we have 6 and that makes a big difference for back 4 especially if they are just learning to play together. This place on the other hand is obsessed about "playing two DMs" and if you look in the "name best XI" thread you will see most posters suggest going with 5, as only Fred gets the spot in midfield - the rest are all attacking players. And that's not even taking into account how little defensive job our forwards do.

 

[Litch]

There's actually an interesting discussion on MOTD that all clubs have 7 field players defensively oriented, while we have 6 and that makes a big difference for back 4 especially if they are just learning to play together. This place on the other hand is obsessed about "playing two DMs" and if you look in the "name best XI" thread you will see most posters suggest going with 5, as only Fred gets the spot in midfield - the rest are all attacking players. And that's not even taking into account how little defensive job our forwards do.

…..and Fred isn’t a DM. Watch this space and whilst Frenkie is heads and shoulders above Fred, it will be the same outcome defensively.

 

[Idxomer]

Bruno isn't a midfielder so it's not really a trio.

You can't get away with playing only 2 central midfielders in your lineup anymore, never mind if those two are Fred and McTominay.

 

[Siorac]

Fred is not bad and can actually be a part of a very competent midfield trio. He suffers from playing alongside McTominay who shouldn't be a starter but is good enough to be a squad player. Fred is like Smalling in the Jones-Smalling combo. Actually a quite good player but is called shit because of the partnership that isn't good enough.

I agree with the ones saying Bruno is not a midfielder too. He's more like a SS playing in midfield/in no 10 position and he's a liability.

My solution would be; changing to 4-3-3, adding FdJ as soon as possible, dropping Bruno & playing Eriksen as the most advanced midfielder. Something like that;

---------------Eriksen--------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------Fred-------------

---------------------De Jong-------------------------------​

Swap De Jong for Rabiot; that might actually happen and at least give us a somewhat okay base. Somewhat okay for a top 4 fight, I mean.

 

[Rozay]

Rubbish midfield. No short-passing ability, no press-resistance, no positional ability. Fred is the best of that trio and the only resembling a midfielder. The other two are freestylers and con-artists. McTominay can’t pass a football. Been demonstrating this weekly for years. He also can’t tackle. He’s just a fouling machine. Bruno can’t dribble, can’t play two passes in a row that are shorter than 30 metres, has no physical strength, no positional sense. He’s a number 10 who can’t even pass and move.

Try and sell as much of that trio as soon as we can or this manager is doomed. And if he is the one personally against any of this trio being sold, then he must be sacked immediately to save ourselves from wasting two years of inevitable failure.

 

[MadMike]

McFreBruno = Failure

McBred

 

[Borys]

…..and Fred isn’t a DM. Watch this space and whilst Frenkie is heads and shoulders above Fred, it will be the same outcome defensively.

Yep it inevitable. But de Jong or whoever joins who can play deep at least will give us options how to set up the midfield. I for one think Fred is quite useful player on opposition half. It's just we can't do shite with current midfielders on our hands.

 

[In Rainbows]

The three of these guys are like a negative feedback loop. McTominay hides, while Bruno gravitates towards the ball and Fred's job is to also do this. This means that the CB's have trouble finding someone open to progress the ball, and so have to give the ball to Bruno more than you want to. He's poor on the ball so it ruins attacks too.

 

[cafecillos]

Probably the worst midfield 3 in the top 4 or even 6 teams in each of the top leagues.

 

[VorZakone]

Van de Beek is surely a better player than McFred? Surely?

 

[Dante]

…..and Fred isn’t a DM. Watch this space and whilst Frenkie is heads and shoulders above Fred, it will be the same outcome defensively.

I think this is a fair point.

Better attacking players alone won't fix our frailties on the counter or (especially) at RB. Dalot is just as big a problem as McFred. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that McFred can at least be turned into serviceable shithousers like the last 3 years. Not sure what Dalot brings to the table, though.

 

[Rozay]

The three of these guys are like a negative feedback loop. McTominay hides, while Bruno gravitates towards the ball and Fred's job is to also do this. This means that the CB's have trouble finding someone open to progress the ball, and so have to give the ball to Bruno more than you want to. He's poor on the ball so it ruins attacks too.

This is like an oxymoron for a number 10. How can a team have a #10 who is 'poor on the ball' ffs?! And how can a team not want to have their 10 on the ball as often as possible? These are the players you look too to have the ball all the time, typically the most gifted player on the ball in the side and the one to make things happen.

 

[Rozay]

Van de Beek is surely a better player than McFred? Surely?

He needs selling too, tbh.

 

[In Rainbows]

This is like an oxymoron for a number 10. How can a team have a #10 who is 'poor on the ball' ffs?! And how can a team not want to have their 10 on the ball as often as possible? These are the players you look too to have the ball all the time, typically the most gifted player on the ball in the side and the one to make things happen.

It makes me angry. The midfielders and the attacking midfielder are usually the best technicians in the squad. At our club, they are arguably some of our worst. It's unacceptable. The one time you can accept it is when a player is of the Kante mold, whose defensive ability contributes heavily to the team's performance. Or someone like Vidal (better technician than our midfields) provides so much energy in both attack (end product) and defense that it helps the team's performance.

It's unbelievable how much our midfield lacks in any meaningful attributes. Forget about my ideal press resistant metronome midfielder, just give us anything so that our midfield as a whole can provide the rest of the team help in certain parts of a team's performance. They can't even do that.

 

[Litch]

I think this is a fair point.

Better attacking players alone won't fix our frailties on the counter or (especially) at RB. Dalot is just as big a problem as McFred. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that McFred can at least be turned into serviceable shithousers like the last 3 years. Not sure what Dalot brings to the table, though.

Gonna be interesting to see how Frenkie copes instead of Fred when he looks around, Scott has disappeared, Bruno is playing goal hanging in the box, Dalot is playing right wing and Shaw is too lazy to get back. Fred is not the answer but Christ we have hung him out to dry at times. The lad isn’t even a CDM and must love going away on international duty to play in a position that actually suits him.…