He was, in the eyes of pretty much everyone who knew about him. Ability was never in question but he wasnt dedicated enough.
Fred’s value
- Thread starter ThinkTank@Cafe
- Start date
Anderson was not a better player
I feel comfortable with Fred now, it took a year but I think he's excellent.
Agreed.
He should still contribute more than he does in this regard, and I'd disagree a bit anyway. He finds himself in shooting or chance creating opportunities a huge amount and it's a part of his game he should improve. I'm a fan, but if we aspire to be at the top our players should be well rounded (insert luke Shaw jokes here)
He's good for now but moving forward of course we'll need to upgrade over him. No way can I see him a main player in a team finishing regularly 2nd/3rd.
There should be absolutely no talk of selling him while we still have Mata, Lingard, Matic and Periera stealing a living at the club. They all need to be replaced before Fred.
He is the midfield version of Lindelof in my opinion, who is also not good enough to start in a team challenging for big titles but deserves to be in the squad ahead of Rojo, Jones, Fosu Mensah, Young etc
He is the midfield version of Lindelof in my opinion, who is also not good enough to start in a team challenging for big titles but deserves to be in the squad ahead of Rojo, Jones, Fosu Mensah, Young etc
If Fred was putting these sorts of performances in playing for Leicester say, we would be crying out for him.
His overall play is let down by those around him. He has been brilliant this last few month.
I wouldn’t be bothered ifUnited bought this current performing Fred for £50m right now.
It’s how we spend £50m to find him as good a partner for the middle of the park - that should be the question.
His overall play is let down by those around him. He has been brilliant this last few month.
I wouldn’t be bothered ifUnited bought this current performing Fred for £50m right now.
It’s how we spend £50m to find him as good a partner for the middle of the park - that should be the question.
No chance.
We're one midfield injury away from having Nemanja Matic's statue in midfield.
Although this thread is full of those people who give there 'Ins and Outs' each season with 20 outs and only 2 ins.
He’s not good enough.
however, Matic is likely gone in jan, Pogba in the summer. That only leaves us him and McT.
the reality is he’s not worth the £50m we paid for him, and no club in the world would offer anywhere near that for him. He’s playing by default. If we sold him, we would be lucky to get £25m for him, but we are not selling him (so we will never know) and it’s all hypothetical.
however, Matic is likely gone in jan, Pogba in the summer. That only leaves us him and McT.
the reality is he’s not worth the £50m we paid for him, and no club in the world would offer anywhere near that for him. He’s playing by default. If we sold him, we would be lucky to get £25m for him, but we are not selling him (so we will never know) and it’s all hypothetical.
Well he wouldn't be doing that because he isn't good enough to get into their midfield.
In a World where Pepe goes for 72m and Longstaff is rated at 50m... syeah right. Get with the times man.
I would sell him for 30 to be honest.
He is the worst starting midfielder we've had in 30 years. The amount of times he loses the ball as a holding midfielder is shocking.
He is OK when we're not in posession.
He is the worst starting midfielder we've had in 30 years. The amount of times he loses the ball as a holding midfielder is shocking.
He is OK when we're not in posession.
He's improved so much that he looks like he can actually play in the team. I'm not sure he's earned that price tag though. If we were a club that did not have serious issues in attracting, negotiating with and integrating players, then I'd definitely sell for 50m. The scale of improvement might mesmerise a bit, but he was atrocious before. Now he's a decent hard working midfielder.
You never met the Djemba twins or Tom Cleverley?
Passing accuracy v Watford:
McTom 85.4 | Fred 88.5
v. Newcastle
McTom 77.4 | Fred 92.7
But those are players with potential, not a player who is soon to be 27 and has not been good enough, and doesn’t have a good CV to fall back on.
Furthermore. Fred will be on a massive wage. Transfer fees are only one element of the overall cost.
I'd bite their hand off. He's good enough for a squad role in a top team, but nothing more.
I was thinking about this today and think if we brought a DM in,McT would probably be the one I drop. Fred honestly gets through so much work on the field and covers us defensivly more and keeps the ball moving I feel more than McT currently does.
Anyway genuinely don’t think he is worth 50mil, but in today’s market I think I’d rather have this version of Fred than Longstaff.
Neither Fred nor McT are among the best midfielders we have had.
But they have been very consistent for several months.
I have no complaints.
But they have been very consistent for several months.
I have no complaints.
Neither of those were starting players... There are so much more to football than passing accuracy stats...
He lost the ball today to, and they scored. You got stats for how often he gets dispossed in a dangerous area? Or the amount of time he is out of position when playing in a to-man-midfield?
For 2 seasons Tom Cleverley absolutely was.
In a title challenging team, he'd be seen as a useful continuity player. Today he got 124 passes, 92.7% accuracy, 11 out of 12 long balls successful, 136 touches. Those are Xavi type numbers, and any praise he gets will be well earned.
However, he's not defensive enough to protect the back line, not creative enough to an AM, and not assertive enough to be a playmaker. All of which makes him a bit pointless unless you want a midfielder who offers possession for possession's sake.
I'm happy enough to keep him in the squad and I can see why Guardiola wanted him. But he's not good enough for City's first team and - if our future transfer windows go well - he won't be good enough for ours.
But given that squad unity and culture is an important part of any rebuild, we need to keep hold of a certain number of players. Fred should be one of them.
However, he's not defensive enough to protect the back line, not creative enough to an AM, and not assertive enough to be a playmaker. All of which makes him a bit pointless unless you want a midfielder who offers possession for possession's sake.
I'm happy enough to keep him in the squad and I can see why Guardiola wanted him. But he's not good enough for City's first team and - if our future transfer windows go well - he won't be good enough for ours.
But given that squad unity and culture is an important part of any rebuild, we need to keep hold of a certain number of players. Fred should be one of them.
Last edited:
He is not irreplaceable entirely but i think he has cemented himself in this squad as first choice. Ole has done well to get hin up to speed, i feel the real Fred would come out more by playing in a two further up next to Pogba but with a proper holding midfielder behind them.
Regarding Fred people always mention consistency. Do they mean that in general he is not consistent, i.e. he has one game good followed by a bad one, or that his current form should be consistent, meaning that they judge him mostly from last year's performances and waiting to see if this season's form is also his true form?
I think this year he is actually one of the most consistent players we have. I cant remember a bad game, nevermind an awful one. In this half-season, he is always better than the average.
I think this year he is actually one of the most consistent players we have. I cant remember a bad game, nevermind an awful one. In this half-season, he is always better than the average.
Some of the comments are laughable. It's the same people that probably want Martial and Pogba out the team......
i am not big fan of Fred. To Me he is careless in possession and give the ball away too often. of course he has improved. i think he could be a good backup. i compare him with keita of liverpool.
Spot on. It's the Anderson situation. Fred is not a holding midfield player. Push him forward with Pogba and we will see a better player.
In
In a fecking heartbeat.
Fred has been excellent for the last few months. Are people watching the same game as I am? Before that, i disliked him, but he has won me over. Today he didn't give away one pass and lost one tackle which did lead to a goal... but overall, he seems to have improved 10 fold because he's been given a run of games, which he hasn't really had previously. I can see him getting better and looked good next to Pogba today.
Oh, so you think someone would pay us the 54 million or whatever it was that we paid for Fred? I don't think so. As for Longstaff, I don't know in what world you think he's is worth 50 million but it certainly isn't the real one. We sure as hell weren't prepared to pay it nor was anyone else so that is just a fictitious number as far as I'm concerned; we'll see what he's worth when someone actually pays it. As for Pepe, I wasn't aware that he was a central midfielder but whatever. Fred's been good this season; I credit him for making the adjustments and I hope he continues to improve and justify the very large fee we paid for him.
I feel like Fred is weaker on the right & is better playing on the left of the centre of midfield.
This is Pogba's favourite position so I hope Pogba sticks to the right hand side because I actually liked what I saw from him today both individually and together.
This is Pogba's favourite position so I hope Pogba sticks to the right hand side because I actually liked what I saw from him today both individually and together.
This is generally missed. Midfielders used to contribute a lot of goals for us in the past. And those are the goals that would unlock those cagey matches. The reason he, as a deep midfielder, would be in a shooting position would be that everyone’s deep in final third and our forwards are generally marked and the box is congested.
McT for all his sins has that desire and has scored a few this season. Far cry from the time of scholes though.This is why I was optimistic with Pogba. Still am. But we will see where that goes.
Back to Fred, it is absolutely his job to be decent at taking shots from out of the box as that is the most likely avenue of goalscoring he will have in his career.
My feeling is that as many have said, Fred will make a decent squad player.
I’m thinking that sort of Ji sung Park role where he can come in for certain games to disrupt opponents.
So yeah, keep him as a squad rotation player once a more established midfielder is bought/found.
I’m thinking that sort of Ji sung Park role where he can come in for certain games to disrupt opponents.
So yeah, keep him as a squad rotation player once a more established midfielder is bought/found.
I'd sell him for 50 mill no problem, as long as a replacement was guaranteed to be coming in! He's good enough as a squad option, but if we're serious about getting back to the top, I still think he's a way off the desired level of quality. He's improved for sure which I'm very happy about, but I still think he's very sloppy and easily bullied.
No idea what a decent midfielder is even worth anymore so it's hard to say.
£50m isn't a massive fee and wasn't even when we signed him, so it's a bit unfair to use it as a stick to beat him with.
He's also been pretty decent this season and is a pretty important part of the team. Matic cost what, £30m and was hailed as a bargain by Jose. Fred is definitely a more valuable player than Matic.
With our midfield as it is at the moment his value to us is also massively inflated, due to the fact we don't really have any alternative, so £50m seems very little. If we sold him for that next month for example I think we'd be absolute fecking idiots.
You can argue we need better but I'd make the same argument in several areas of our team and I don't think Fred is even top of that list. At the moment what we have is what we have.
£50m isn't a massive fee and wasn't even when we signed him, so it's a bit unfair to use it as a stick to beat him with.
He's also been pretty decent this season and is a pretty important part of the team. Matic cost what, £30m and was hailed as a bargain by Jose. Fred is definitely a more valuable player than Matic.
With our midfield as it is at the moment his value to us is also massively inflated, due to the fact we don't really have any alternative, so £50m seems very little. If we sold him for that next month for example I think we'd be absolute fecking idiots.
You can argue we need better but I'd make the same argument in several areas of our team and I don't think Fred is even top of that list. At the moment what we have is what we have.
I think he's just ok, certainly has a place in the squad but it would not be too hard to upgrade on him.
If anyone offered 50 mil. I'd accept it. Can't understand why so many on here are prepared to keep him on. We need a player in that position that can do more than just transport the ball from a to b. He can't tackle and he certainly can't shoot and still loses possession as he did yesterday which caused their goal.
Would I sell him for 50 fecking millions? Is this a joke? Of course I would, but nobody with a sane mind would give you that much money for Fred. Yes he has improved, but is still pretty average player. One of the main reasons for our lack of defensive stability is him and Scott. They are both solid squad players, difference being one of them will improve, the other one is in his prime.
Sometimes I wonder if people even watch our games? What kind of bonkers analysis is this? He’s been one of our most consistent and best performing players this season. I say this being one of his biggest early critics. Some people are never happy unless it’s a big name.
No @billybee99, that’s not what I said at all.
I still see him as a weakness in the line up but I don't think it's as easy as it sounds to get someone for £50m who will come straight in and perform better.