Anderson? He may not have ultimately worked out, but there's not a chance in hell he should be mentioned with the others you've just named (or Fred for now). His first few seasons were miles better than anything the others ever did for us.
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People have written Fred off too early. I feel if he works hard and listens to what Ole wants from him, he could add a new dimension to our midfield next season.
Di Maria was miles better than Anderson, he's just judged differently because he was a big signing
I disagree, I thought for the majority of his United career he was largely shit and stuck around like a bad smell. He was good in his first season so maybe I'm being overly harsh but I'll always regard him as being up there with our worst, especially given his cost and his potential too.
Indeed, no doubting Di Maria was a quality player but when you end up playing badly enough to be displaced by Young and then sold the following summer after being United's record signing, there's always going to be a spot for you on the worst transfer list.
Yeah, he had much higher highs when he first came in but then his lows were pretty embarrassing when he looked like he didnt want to be on the pitch. But I'm pretty sure most managers would still much rather have Di Maria from United than Anderson from United.
Hope your right.
I agree with this. I’m still uncertain wether he will make the grade here, but in glimpses of fifteen minutes here and there, he has shown potentially very useful attributes, I think.
His first season is in some ways reminiscent of Lindelöf’s first, in that he has at times looked nervous, and at times as though he didn’t know how to deal with the PL at all.
He seems to be a player who needs to play on intuition a lot, and so is dependent on there being a plan around him and good relations with team mates so he knows were to find them instinctively.
With Fred, confidence plays a big part I think. He started okay but was giving the ball away under Jose, due to lack of PL experience needed time to bed in.
Then Jose came out and said until he improved defensively he wont play.. so every opportunity was like an audition. I felt he was trying too hard?
Ole came in and we had a system that worked with Matic Pogba and Herrera then injuries etc.. and Fred was brought in and we saw glimpses of his ability. What I liked about what I saw was he was not afraid to receive and almost fizz the ball to pogba, rashford, etc..
He needs the managers confidence to say, I want you to be the box to box and you will play the first 5 games.
Still havent worked out whether he is predominately left or right footed. You tube highlights suggest left, but ive hardly see him do anything for us with either foot.
Poor, needs to step up or ship out.
Poor, needs to step up or ship out.
It’s just like people writing off Lindelöf after the first season. Fred will make it here, his performance at PSG is one of the better ones
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Yes, seems reasonable. At his best for us, he has been a very good ballwinner, and good at quick distribution forward. I understand why Solskjær tried him at DM, although it’s scant evidence, and he’d have to improve his positioning and not least his fairly unforced errors.
Expect a big season from him next year. He improved drastically towards the end of last and showed on numerous occasions his ability to move the ball quickly, one touch and under pressure. I think its a case of needing similar players to fit this style. Im not sure who that third midfielder should be assuming that Fred and Pogba are starters.
It’s always like that. People judge to fast. I think it’s to early to judge Fred. I think he will have a much better season after a hard first season.
Kleberson cost 7.7m £ and sold for 2.3m £.
Bebe cost 7.9m and sold for 2.7m.
Di Maria cost 67.5m and sold for 56.7m
We lost 28m on Anderson but he stayed for 6 years and won the PL and CL.
On Depay we lost nearly 15m but we have a buy back clause so we could make something out of there.
On Schweinsteiger we lost 8m without his wages.
I don't see how could we sell Fred for more than 20m so we will have a loss of more than 30m.
Probably the third one on the list is Anderson and on the fourth, I would place both Falcao and Schweini.
He certainly has the technical ability but seems to be a confidence player. I think giving him more time playing is going to make him better. Incidentally Anderson played a very important part early on before he got injured. I have seen that he has always played in our important matches and his midfield partnership first with Hargreaves and later with Cleverly was very good until Cleverly got injured.
Anderson was 19 years old, Fred is 25.
Anderson’s career is certainly nothing to shout about in any case. Would love Fred to come good, but I don’t see anything that’s outstanding about him, he’s average at everything, and needs to improve every part of his game to become a first team player.
My issue with Fred is that I don’t really know what he’s meant to be doing. What is he good at?
Imagine if we were to sell him. I can’t work out why any team would really want to spend upwards of around £20 million for him, in part due to the complete lack of obvious traits that actively benefit the team. He needs another season, certainly, but he has a long, long way to go. Particularly if he is to be starting in a successful United team.
Imagine if we were to sell him. I can’t work out why any team would really want to spend upwards of around £20 million for him, in part due to the complete lack of obvious traits that actively benefit the team. He needs another season, certainly, but he has a long, long way to go. Particularly if he is to be starting in a successful United team.
Box to box midfielder with a good engine, good technical ability and a good eye for a pass.
Let's give him another season before we crucify him. It was a bad season for most of our players let alone for a new arrival from a vastly inferior league.
He's the best DM at the club currently even with his habit of losing the ball in dangerous areas.
I think it defeats the principle of a good DM if he creates danger himself by losing the ball.
Yes, opposition teams were clearly very happy to allow him to show the odd dynamic moment, knowing that a key mistake was likely to come along with equal frequency. Nothing about his style of play suggests DM, too erratic, you need a steadying influence in that role, Fred is not that.
I think it's a matter of confidence, because Fred was a fantastic engine in the Shakthar team. Not the best player offensively, but he was a hardworker.
Did he make Brazil team?
What? Of course not.
I think this is a criticism too easily levelled at multi-functional midfield players. I've heard people say the same about Winks and Wjinaldum.
He's a player for a high tempo team that moves the ball quickly. He will cover ground well, turn the ball over and break through opposition lines with his technical ability. He's not one to sit on the ball and every one of his mistakes comes from having to do that, receiving the ball deep with no options around him.
I would give him this season to see improvement.
Both of those are top players though - both would have done well here. Winks will be a phenomenal player.
Wijnaldum is a really well rounded player, he's not spectacular at any one thing but overall he's got a great balance of abilities. Fred is multiple rungs below him.
Winks is phenomenal? Are you Glaston?
I don’t know what they do but I know what they don’t do and that’s continually give the ball away thirty yards from their own goal. That instantly makes them better than Fred without even considering what they do.
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'Winks will be a phenomenal player' is actually what I said. He will be.
I wondered at many times last season what the point of him was but I saw it in flashes the later one we got.
He's got a really good eye for a pass along the ground into a forward, similar to the great ones that Carrick did quite a lot and we've lacked that change of pace since Carrick declined/finished.
I feel like his strengths can be worked on. He can be a really good link player if he keeps it simple 95% of the time then plays those killer passes the other 5%.
His weaknesses though may prove too much to overcome.
He's got a really good eye for a pass along the ground into a forward, similar to the great ones that Carrick did quite a lot and we've lacked that change of pace since Carrick declined/finished.
I feel like his strengths can be worked on. He can be a really good link player if he keeps it simple 95% of the time then plays those killer passes the other 5%.
His weaknesses though may prove too much to overcome.
What about his play will be phenomenal then?
I like the kid, he will be a good player, phenomenal though? I cant see it, he is a player in the Modric style, ie makes games tick on and moves the ball quickly, he will never meet Modric levels I am afraid.
I remember saying last season he was the best ground passer we had at the club and some disagreed saying it was pogba. His passes are so weighted and direct that I was happy seeing him feature quite a lot even though he would give the ball away countless times. My problem with him is not even the consistent mistakes but his lack of balance on the ball. He needs to definitely improve that given he is brazilian. Needs to trap the ball quicker and not lose it. Also he falls down a lot which brings us back to that balance issue. As a player with a small physique i'm actually surprised he cant stay on his feet when trying to execute a pass or dribble the ball.
Fred is a weird one. In one or two games last season he was almost our best and worst player at the same time.
He can break up play extremely effectively. He is decent at picking the ball up from our defenders, something that the rest of our midfielders rarely do. He is a decent tackler and can come up with some good dogged displays in midfield.
Then, after kick-starting our attacks from deep, he works his way into the final third and gives the ball away almost every time he has it in an advanced area.
There is no doubt in my mind that Fred should be a defensive midfielder. An anchor. Let him break up play, spread it out to the full-backs, give it to our more creative midfielders and then I think we see a much better player. We need to make a disciplined player of him.
He can break up play extremely effectively. He is decent at picking the ball up from our defenders, something that the rest of our midfielders rarely do. He is a decent tackler and can come up with some good dogged displays in midfield.
Then, after kick-starting our attacks from deep, he works his way into the final third and gives the ball away almost every time he has it in an advanced area.
There is no doubt in my mind that Fred should be a defensive midfielder. An anchor. Let him break up play, spread it out to the full-backs, give it to our more creative midfielders and then I think we see a much better player. We need to make a disciplined player of him.
I think that is due to two things. Firstly you could clearly tell he had issues adapting toe the pace of the league. He had quality touches which seemed a bit loose and his passing was sharp but were played a bit to hastly. The inventiveness and aggression were there, but reaction were a bit slow. This could also be down to fitness. The entire team suffered from it, and when combined with adaptation, it can look bad. Lindelof is an example of this. I thnk he will come good.
Agree with all of this.
He also gives it away long before he gets into an advanced area.
Not sure about that. He certainly has some of the attributes of a decent DM, but his propensity to lose the ball is just too great, and I can’t help thinking he’s too old to change. Though I hope I’m wrong and certainly agree we’ve nothing to lose by giving him more time.
I do struggle to understand the “can’t see what he’s good at” brigade. His strengths and weaknesses seem pretty obvious.
He won't. Happy to bet some sort of tagline on that.
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