Haven't seen the game yet but nice to hear he played well.
17
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Is he more a CDM?
He was covering that area alot & seemed more settled playing consistently deeper than a midfielder that plays up forward for a few seconds and then dropping off to deep midfield when losing the ball.
He was covering that area alot & seemed more settled playing consistently deeper than a midfielder that plays up forward for a few seconds and then dropping off to deep midfield when losing the ball.
Not DM, he's holding midfielder as a deepest midfielder of trio midfield, kinda like how PSG, City, Dortmund, and Bayern play with holding midfielder rather than pure DM.
Give me some players who play such a role?
Thiago, Verrarti, Wital, etc
Okay thanks. Arguably we still need a defensive midfielder then.
Depend on what kind of midfield we need to play, if it's three, I'd say we need a B2B player with more energy, winning the ball, helping out defensively and support the attack, running up and down all game especially if Pogba focuses on creativity and do Lampard run to the box.
Fred is really good at defensive work, there's no need for pure DM like Rice, Dier, Kante, Casemiro type, etc.
There absolutely is a need for Kante IMO.
Brilliant game.
We need to get Fred hitting this level in the league. It's weird that he can't. There's a brilliant footballer here that could become a huge player for us. Has to happen next season though
That was Fredo playing tonight. His more talented, secret twin.
Who needs Ander when you've got Fred? 
He and mctominay have the same fearlessness many of our players need. I would argue dalot and Shaw do also.Who needs Ander when you've got Fred?
Played very well, top performance..
We still created good chances. Dalot actually decides to make his header a shot and/or Rashford doesn't sky that volley (set up by Fred, incidentally) and we're looking at a different result. I remember that Spurs game we won where they battered us in the 2nd half but didn't have many shots on target - it doesn't tell the whole story.
Losing never feels good no doubt, but our midfield bar Pogba went toe-to-toe with Busquets, Arthur and Rakitic. I'd say we don't have to just focus on the negatives
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.
He didn't stand out to me in Paris compared to today, but then again I was dying little by little watching that game.
Do you mean the one where De Gea made 11 saves...?
Wasn't that the Arsenal game?
Oops, just looked it up. My bad. The 1-0 in the league did go that way. I do seem to remember a game where Spurs outclassed us in the 2nd half but didn't get many shots on target - maybe it's the FA Cup one?
Because he played better, especially in that 2nd half. The other matches were good in the context that he hadnt been playing much and we were drafting in players to cover injuries.
The performance against Barcelona was as good as we could probably hope for from Matic or Ander in the same circumstances if they have a good game.
Also a different type of performance. Because Fred played DM alone whereas Matic and Ander play it in more of a 2.
It's all about personnel. Fred isn't a top player in my opinion, but his weaknesses are compounded when you have Matic next to him being equally abysmal. McT was able to cover for him and allow him to play freely. Still mishit a few passes, but did enough to be considered a starter for the rest of the season.
One thing I will say about this performance is obviously we were playing against a very specific type of midfield. One without much physical strength and power and that is one of the areas Fred isnt so great with at least in the premier league. So he might be better off in these big matches against top sides in the champions league than premier league matches playing that role. But we'll have to see
He was playing very well in his last league game too. Really unlucky to be subbed when Young got sent off.
As usual, loads of people on here are over-complicating things. He’s just taken a while to adjust and settle into his new team. Which is absolutely normal. Especially in central midfield, which is all about knowing in advance where your team mates are likely to move or pass the ball. See also Fabinho and Keita at Liverpool.
New league and new country too.
Fair play to the guy I think he was very good and battled hard in the middle. If he can translate this performance in the PL he should start for the rest of the season.
I'd argue, it's more that it's just taken a while for him to even be given a run in the team. The injuries played in our favour or else Fred would still be on the bench.
We would've got incinerated had we played Matic in his place.
Fred and McT need to play every game until the end of the season imo.
With Herrera gone and Matic's legs going, it just makes sense.
With Herrera gone and Matic's legs going, it just makes sense.
Played really well and his best game for United, seemed to be everywhere, finding space and pinging passes about left, right and centre, hope he starts with McTominay against West Ham.........hope that’s not the kiss of death.
Not in Physical Epl. These European games suits his syle.
Another game when he is used in a defensive position and another good performance. Glad the coaching staff have finally figured out he should be playing in front of our defence and not in a more attacking role. That kind of performance will have shown people why Guardiola wanted him to succeed Fernandinho at City and hopefully he gets to keep that position until the end of the season and build on it.
It’s funny the way the Fred and McTominay threads both have loads of comments that each player was anchoring midfield while the other had license to get forward.
Perhaps we witnessed two old fashioned, box to box performances?
Perhaps we witnessed two old fashioned, box to box performances?
Weird. To me it's obvious Fred was the defensive midfielder. Would love to see a heat map for both of them.
Fred was the deepest midfielder going by average position and even watching the game that's how it looked.
Been impressed with both him and Scott recently. Something I honestly didn't see myself saying about either based on what I'd seen previously. Confidence is a wonderful thing to a footballer. With Ander leaving, Matic a little too slow and Pogba not exactly lighting things up right now, I wouldn't mind seeing these two in midfield for a few more games and see if they settle into their roles.
Brilliant last night. Alot of people slagging him off have gone quiet I see.
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.
You can see why Pep wanted him.
Played well, though could do with firing his forward passes in with more pace some times to up the tempo. Something Carrick was always very good at from that position.
A massive upgrade on Matic anyway, in basically every aspect of the game.
A massive upgrade on Matic anyway, in basically every aspect of the game.
Yep correct. This is more the City mold with Fred playing the Fernandinho role, with Pogba and McTominay playing more like their number 10s coming from midfield
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