[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Good to see him again, after his 3 month long wedding. Did quite well when he came on. Hope we see more of him.

He's preferable to Matic right now, purely because he doesn't run like Nicholas Cage in those slow-motion sequences in Con Air.

 

[vulmik]

Does anyone else see a bit of Cambiasso in him? Hopefully he kicks on as I really like what I see from him

 

[luke511]

Said it so many times, he only plays well when he's not playing alongside Pogba in midfield, can only be one or the other. Solskjaer & co may have finally figured it out that he's the ideal back up option when Pogba's out/needs resting.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Said it so many times, he only plays well when he's not playing alongside Pogba in midfield, can only be one or the other. Solskjaer & co may have finally figured it out that he's the ideal back up option when Pogba's out/needs resting.

A £52m inconsistent midfield reserve to our £90m inconsistent first team midfielder!

So many excuses for Fred:

1. Needs to play in a 3 man midfield
2. Can’t play within 3 months of getting married
3. Needs a strong defence behind him, so that he can shine
4. Can’t play with Pogba

There are players you can make exceptions for, but he’s not one of them - I can’t see him ever making it. Would love to be wrong, as we are in desperate need of a decent midfielder, but don’t see anything in him to suggest he can be a decent player for us.

 

[luke511]

A £52m inconsistent midfield reserve to our £90m inconsistent first team midfielder!

So many excuses for Fred:

1. Needs to play in a 3 man midfield
2. Can’t play within 3 months of getting married
3. Needs a strong defence behind him, so that he can shine
4. Can’t play with Pogba

There are players you can make exceptions for, but he’s not one of them - I can’t see him ever making it. Would love to be wrong, as we are in desperate need of a decent midfielder, but don’t see anything in him to suggest he can be a decent player for us.

Yeah it's a terrible transfer no doubt, an awful call from Mourinho. We spunked £50 million on a player who occupies the same position as Pogba when the other two places in centre midfield needed replacements. All I'm saying he plays well without Pogba, and the fact he didn't start today when Pogba was out makes me question Solskjaer & co even more on top of everything else team selection related.

 

[DatIrishFella]

A £52m inconsistent midfield reserve to our £90m inconsistent first team midfielder!

So many excuses for Fred:

1. Needs to play in a 3 man midfield
2. Can’t play within 3 months of getting married
3. Needs a strong defence behind him, so that he can shine
4. Can’t play with Pogba

There are players you can make exceptions for, but he’s not one of them - I can’t see him ever making it. Would love to be wrong, as we are in desperate need of a decent midfielder, but don’t see anything in him to suggest he can be a decent player for us.

That's a £142m of inconsistency for those too lazy to count.

 

[Carl S Bridge]

That's a £142m of inconsistency for those too lazy to count.

Pogba is our best player. Simple as. Can't believe you and others jump on him and spout shit and abuse about him. Genuinely don't know what the feck you want him to do. Scored and assisted more then any midfielder in premier League last year. Creates more chances then almost all in a shit dysfunctional attack. Imagine if he was actually in a decent team. Could he work harder? Possibly but so could many players that have worn a Man Utd shirt before. Including Christiano Ronaldo who you all adore as a saint even though he fecked us off for Madrid without a second thought

 

[Majima]

Said it so many times, he only plays well when he's not playing alongside Pogba in midfield, can only be one or the other. Solskjaer & co may have finally figured it out that he's the ideal back up option when Pogba's out/needs resting.

All that has nothing to do with today's match. What makes you think that? If you believe that was the coaches thinking, why didn't he start then?

Also, did you miss the Arsenal away match in the league last season? Fred was a standout performer that day alongside Pogba.

Fred and Pogba can play in the same team just fine. They've played with each other many times now.

Thing is, we know Pogba is wasted deep and we have useless players in the 10 position, so get him further forward where he can cause the damage and have Fred sit alongside McTominay, to feed Pogba, as Matić's legs have gone so he isn't capable. He's comfortable in a pivot, played it at Shakhtar and they have both shown they're competent in that pairing with both having standout performances at PSG. You're telling me that wouldn't work?

 

[Majima]

Yeah it's a terrible transfer no doubt, an awful call from Mourinho. We spunked £50 million on a player who occupies the same position as Pogba when the other two places in centre midfield needed replacements. All I'm saying he plays well without Pogba, and the fact he didn't start today when Pogba was out makes me question Solskjaer & co even more on top of everything else team selection related.

Fred and Pogba do not occupy the same position in the slightest. We are currently playing Pogba out of position. Fred is a b2b or a defensive mid in a pivot. Pogba is a creative mid or a 10, even left midfield in some systems. They both want to occupy completely different zones.

Pogba
-
Fred - DM

Pogba------------------
--------------Fred
DM

Pogba --------------- James/RM
DM - Fred
​

Those would function just fine with both in them.

 

[JustABall]

I really like Fred. If we want to play fast, high energy football under Ole, then he can help us transition from defence to attack quickly. He plays decisive, quick passes and can press, harry & intercept very well. As shown against PSG and Arsenal last season. People only focus on the one or two feck ups he made. Yes, they were poor. But there's a player in there if we can find the right balance in midfield. We still don't have a natural holding midfielder outside of Matić who isn't good enough. Both Fred and McTominay are better as utility players in a box to box role. One of them should be playing next to Pogba in that role, with a DM behind them. Garner might be that man next season, but we're stuck with Matić/McTominay/Fred at DM for now.

It was a very up and down debut season due to many factors:

• Mourinho didn't fully trust him
• He wasn't match sharp by the time Ole took over
• Moving to a new country and learning a new language
• Playing in a poor side with extra attention due to being our only signing of note

 

[Sterling Archer]

Hopefully Ole can finally open his eyes on Fred after today. Fred is more suitable playing deeper role than Pogba. Both him & McTomminay bring a lot of energy & playing exactly what I thought Ole wants in his high press, high energy & counter attack system. Pogba should be left further forward as a no 10 not playing him deep, let Pogba create the final third pass because he’s top at it with both Fred & McTomminay support him from behind.

McTomminay - Fred
———- Pogba ——-​

Why is there so much space.. No white text even?

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Why is there so much space.. No white text even?

Fancy mate.

 

[Devil77]

He did ok.

When he came on, McTominay pushed higher up and Fred dropped deep. But then Fred got caught out of position a couple of times, so Ole brought on Tuanzebe to play as the holding midfielder instead.

I'm still struggling to figure out what role he should have in our midfield. He has some quality, but also a few glaring weaknesses.

Thought Tuamzebe was a tactical sub to waste some time. He was brought on 25 mins after Fred and in the last minute.

 

[Meep]

He's preferable to Matic right now, purely because he doesn't run like Nicholas Cage in those slow-motion sequences in Con Air.

Fred-McT and Pogba in front of them have we tried that?

 

[Bestietom]

Fred is certainly far from the finished article but he brings more balance to an average midfield for a top 6 team.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Was it Ndidi he took the ball from and drove at the Leicester defense towards the end? That was a brief glimpse of brilliance where he read the play, made the tackle and attacked with the ball. More of it please!

 

[Holocene]

Was it Ndidi he took the ball from and drove at the Leicester defense towards the end? That was a brief glimpse of brilliance where he read the play, made the tackle and attacked with the ball. More of it please!

Think it was Ricardo. Definitely want to see more of that.

 

[Prodigy24]

Nice cameo yesterday. Hope he gets to start soon.

 

[Litch]

Whether he's good enough or not, the lad has played 13 times in the PL last season. He probably started less than half that. Sorry but anyone who can assess a players ability in 20 games total, if you are not a professional scout for a top premier team, you should be. He may still not be suited to Utd or the prem but now 14 prem games, starting 5'ish, it's another level of stupidity to suggest that decision of what he is or isn't can be made so soon.

 

[Litch]

A £52m inconsistent midfield reserve to our £90m inconsistent first team midfielder!

So many excuses for Fred:

1. Needs to play in a 3 man midfield
2. Can’t play within 3 months of getting married
3. Needs a strong defence behind him, so that he can shine
4. Can’t play with Pogba

There are players you can make exceptions for, but he’s not one of them - I can’t see him ever making it. Would love to be wrong, as we are in desperate need of a decent midfielder, but don’t see anything in him to suggest he can be a decent player for us.

Great assessment of him after playing just 200 minutes of football for Utd....most coming off the bench.

 

[RedPed]

The guy just needs a good run of games that's all. Matic offers nothing anymore and should be farmed out in Jan. Fred will start against Astana for sure.

 

[luke511]

All that has nothing to do with today's match. What makes you think that? If you believe that was the coaches thinking, why didn't he start then?

Also, did you miss the Arsenal away match in the league last season? Fred was a standout performer that day alongside Pogba.

Fred and Pogba can play in the same team just fine. They've played with each other many times now.

Thing is, we know Pogba is wasted deep and we have useless players in the 10 position, so get him further forward where he can cause the damage and have Fred sit alongside McTominay, to feed Pogba, as Matić's legs have gone so he isn't capable. He's comfortable in a pivot, played it at Shakhtar and they have both shown they're competent in that pairing with both having standout performances at PSG. You're telling me that wouldn't work?

All that has nothing to do with the game? What? When Fred came off the bench things became more functional, how many times have we seen him come off the bench when Pogba's playing and he's looked like complete trash? It's a lot. So yeah it's relevant. That's what I meant by the realisation comment is that hopefully management have picked up on the trend.

They aren't the same player but Pogba and Fred both occupy the no.8 role and they both have the same inconsistencies, both of them playing at the same time has failed a lot more times than it's worked. The only way you can get them in the same midfield is by playing Pogba as a no.10, which proves my point.

 

[roonster09]

I thought once he was on we looked better. Not hard I guess considering how poor Matic was. Fred has mobility and wins many tackles. I think it's better to play him alongside McTominay, with Pogba playing in advanced midfield role. Gives more balance to the team.

 

[Grande]

A good 30 minutes from Fred. One of our best players yesterday. Good sign.

 

[Majima]

All that has nothing to do with the game? What? When Fred came off the bench things became more functional, how many times have we seen him come off the bench when Pogba's playing and he's looked like complete trash? It's a lot. So yeah it's relevant. That's what I meant by the realisation comment is that hopefully management have picked up on the trend.

They aren't the same player but Pogba and Fred both occupy the no.8 role and they both have the same inconsistencies, both of them playing at the same time has failed a lot more times than it's worked. The only way you can get them in the same midfield is by playing Pogba as a no.10, which proves my point.

Your original point was that you think Ole has realised Fred can't perform in the same team as Pogba. Pogba was unavailable yesterday so that was a coincidence, unless you're a mind reader that is. That was what i meant. Fred has been settling into the team though. The whole team has looked like complete trash to be honest, there's a difference. When he started to feel comfortable last season, that was alongside Pogba.

Fred did make us stronger when he came on yesterday. I hope he stays in the team WITH Pogba. We need all the creativity we can get. It is a bit weird to suggest they cannot play together. It's just about finding the right balance. We've seen for years how Man City make it work. There's countless examples i could name. Fred & Pogba together isn't even extreme.

Depending on the system, both of them can naturally co-exist easily. Why you're so adamant they cannot perform together is the question.

There's a lot of short-term luck in matches. Remember the Arsenal away match last season, where we created a ton of chances and should have easily won the match but ended up losing 2-0? Fred was a standout performer that day in the middle with Pogba playing left-midfield actually. We looked really good that day. Like i say, it's about finding the right balance for the team.

Pogba being further forward is a good thing no? Why wouldn't you want Pogba further forward?

 

[sugar_kane]

Still think he could make it here

It was refreshing watching him liven up our midfield after Matic stinking the place out for 60 mins

 

[red woppit]

With the players we have, he would be in a midfield two with McTominay, always thought this, he is naturally left sided, McTominay naturally right sided, and seems to me a more solid, albeit inexperienced, two. Would like to see these two a start on Thursday, with Gomes just in front.

 

[WR10]

Ffs he's finally gotten back to football. I have been crying for him to be put next to scott in midfield behind Pogba's #10 since the end of last season.

By far the only logical selection. Perreira has no real clue how to not be a liability in central midfield. Matic is stuck in slow motion. Pogba is wasted outside of #10. Scott and Fred provide the perfect foundation for Pogba.

Glad Ole and co see it too.

 

[Noc-Z]

Yep, Fred and McTominay behind Pogba in a midfield 3 - it's not what I'd ideally want but it's the best combination I can imagine with what he have.

We can't afford to spend 52M on a midfielder and not try and get something out of him. But ultimately I think he was a big mistake - if a £52 signing can't get into that midfield something is very wrong.

With the state of our squad it's so frustrating to imagine it looks like we probably wasted that money on him.

Give him a chance in a midfield 3, see if we can save something from the transfer at least.

 

[roonster09]

Ole said his season starts today, I think that means he will start. Hopefully he plays well and then makes it hard to drop him. I believe Fred + Mctominay is our best midfield pair with Pogba playing attacking role.

 

[jackal&hyde]

He will come good this season i'm sure of it. Very talented player that can do in that midfiled things that only Pogba can. Move and pass, bring the ball out of defense, dribble. Mctominay Fred Pogba is going to be our 3 midfield by the end of the season.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Really hope he puts in a performance tonight.

Needs to step up this season.

 

[OldTrevil]

Had a good game, but unfortunately was partnered with Matic...

 

[mewnew11]

So many side passes. Drove me nuts tonight. Looks like he performs when mctominay is next to him.

Expecting more from Fred but I won't judge anyone when they play next to matic

 

[bosnian_red]

Should start on the weekend with Pogba as the 10.

 

[Bestie07]

Needs to come into the first team picture. A midfield three of Fred-pogba-mct is better than anything else we can put out.

 

[Tapori]

MOTM
Tempo and busy but lacking a killer through ball
Needs to play more into the channels between oppositions Full-back and Centre Half
Will be braver in playing over the top

 

[paraguayo]

So many side passes. Drove me nuts tonight. Looks like he performs when mctominay is next to him.

Expecting more from Fred but I won't judge anyone when they play next to matic

One of his 'side passes' was an assist

 

[Adamsk7]

I thought he was very wasteful and pushed off the ball easily BUT it’s clear he’s more urgent and energetic than Matic so for that reason alone should get a chance ahead of him.

 

[el3mel]

He started off well but faded a lot over the course of the game.