[RonaldoVII]

He's not world class but he's our best holding midfielder. The problem yesterday was that Matic was holding and Fred was more box to box but that's not his game. Matic seemed to disappear at times, too, leaving Fred to have 3 on him. He works well with Scott as their roles are more defined but when Scott is missing we don't have anyone we can rely on for that role unless we risk Pogba/Donny there which Ole doesn't seem keen on.

 

[Ash_G]

We need to stop using them as a reference point. Their set up and manager is a big reason why work rate is paramount in their system. Ole is not going to offer that so we need different qualities

Perhaps, I guess that wraps up in to the larger question of whether Ole is the right person to take us to the next level. Fundamentally though I don't think it's unreasonable to have a midfield platform built on two solid midfielders if they then give the attackers/full backs licence to push up. I'd prefer to have a (or 2!) w.c players in the middle but I don't think we have to sign one to be competitive with the attack and defence we now have.

 

[Litch]

It really baffles me how people can't see this. Even if we sign a new CM/DM, it's not Fred that'll be getting dropped for him. Despite his erratic passing, he's still too crucial to our game. He's the only one that presses, harries, recovers the ball. He was on the pitch for 75 mins and had the most presses, tackles and blocks. We went from 70% possession (in last 10 minutes) to 40% after he got taken off.

He still had a bad game. He can and should be doing better. But the fact people are so dismissive of what he brings is just so bizarre.

Not particularly about Fred but each season if not successful, there is always a scapegoat that fans believe we would be better 'if'. We replace them, still no change and we move onto the next player/position. I would argue and it's a bold statement, more than any other player, if Fred plays well we win football matches. I think Ole and the coaching staff know this too. For a player that's seen so poorly, his best performances for Utd have been against the best teams in Europe and Prem.

It's all about confidence and when he starts poorly, he over compensates then tries too hard to fix it. He often needs half time to reset. I think sometimes the eye test isn't always right and like most players, you look for the things they do wrong whilst ignoring the things they do right.

My issue is we shouldn't need a Fred in the starting 11 but it's kind of a reflection of where the team is at. Like how we used Park, Fred has a skillset for specific games, ironically the bigger ones......

 

[LoneStar]

As others have mentioned, there's no excuses for his passing yesterday. It was abysmal.

But having Matic next to him (or not) did not help him at all. Unless we switch formations, we'll have to play combinations of McT, Fred and Matic ahead of the defence for the rest of the season. Pogba and VDB are probably not best suited for that position. Not reassuring.

 

[Litch]

Perhaps, I guess that wraps up in to the larger question of whether Ole is the right person to take us to the next level. Fundamentally though I don't think it's unreasonable to have a midfield platform built on two solid midfielders if they then give the attackers/full backs licence to push up. I'd prefer to have a (or 2!) w.c players in the middle but I don't think we have to sign one to be competitive with the attack and defence we now have.

It's interesting, without defending what we have, cant remember too many games in the last 2 seasons that we lost because of the midfield. We have come second and third in the league and got to semi's with this midfield. We done some unprecedented things with this midfield, not to mention the away run.
I'd argue, the issue of the low block is more patterns of play and coaching than it is players. Any upgrade isn't gonna change that.

All players have poor games, it's just that when he does, it becomes magnified cause we often draw or lose. When he plays well, we tend to win. When he doesn't play we certainly miss him.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

For all the criticism yesterday I think the Man Utd midfield was dominating until he was substituted - at least he gets about.

 

[MattofManchester]

For all the criticism yesterday I think the Man Utd midfield was dominating until he was substituted - at least he gets about.

Need I remind you how many times he gave the ball away?
Had a mare in that first 45.

But,if anything, it's just a reminder that he's not starting quality, and the midfield base we have is pitiful.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Need I remind you how many times he gave the ball away?
Had a mare in that first 45.

But,if anything, it's just a reminder that he's not starting quality, and the midfield base we have is pitiful.

Passing has never been his strong point. He was frustrating on the ball yesterday definitely but I don't think that is why he is selected in midfield. A specialist holding midfielder is required but won't happen this summer so this is what Ole has to work with. Fred, at least, gets about the midfield.

 

[kaNNz]

This man can play well only when his partner is Scot.If we dont play McFred, we must sell Fred and use Scot on the bench.

 

[NoLogo]

I always feel that is passing is okay as long as we are up against a team that sits deep. If he gets pressed he is absolutely abysmal giving the ball away in dangerous situations again and again with his sloppy passing, granted that Matic was his partner and didn't deal with the pressure any better than Fred did, didn't help him either, but I feel like this explains his inconsistency where sometimes he has excellent games if being let alone and the other game he is a complete liability if teams put pressure on him.

 

[Litch]

Fred isn't a CDM but Christ, where do you get one from? Loads of names being talked about who incidentally aren't true CDM's including Donny. The limited few aren't attainable or equally are playing in sides where they play the postion well but that's in the context of the team they play for. I like the look of the lad from Brighton but I question why are teams that are bigger than them not going in for him? You not telling me that he's not attainable for Everton, Villa, West Ham, Arsenal, Spurs?

 

[MattofManchester]

I hope he gets injured

Jesus. Sort yourself out.

 

[psychdelicblues]

Awful post.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Awful first half. Decent second half. Again. What the feck is going on with him?

 

[Drainy]

He is absolutely shocking. I hope he gets injured and never plays for us again. If I’m paying for sky to watch united, I don’t want to watch them with Fred. He gives me anger issues.

I really don't rate him as a footballer and we should recruit to improve on him as soon as possible, but that is a bit much.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

A full on 0/10 performance.

He must have been dribbled past a record number of times

 

[Martialfc]

Jesus. Sort yourself out.

Tell Fred to sort himself out. How he’s a professional footballer I don’t know.

 

[Giant Midget]

Performance equal to my dog’s runny diarrhea this afternoon

 

[pratyush_utd]

He is a headless chicken in middle of the pitch... Such astonishing lack of composure.. obviously there is a player in him but I think not at United level

 

[Escobar]

Another really poor performance. We really struggle with him in midfield.

No way should he be starting games for us

 

[BlackBen]

One of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from a United player. He’s not a DM and we need to get one in ASAP!!!

 

[KennyBurner]

Awful performance from him but Bruno and Sancho were much worse. both him and pogba need help during the buildup. Failure on Ole for not recognizing we dont need both bruno and greenwood striking together.

 

[Based Adnan]

Horrible. Can't score, can't create, defensively suspect and abandons position at will.

We won't challenge with him in the team.

 

[Frank White]

He is absolutely shocking. I hope he gets injured and never plays for us again. If I’m paying for sky to watch united, I don’t want to watch them with Fred. He gives me anger issues.

We can tell. Had a shocker of a 1st half, felt like he was trying to make us concede. Definitely someone we need to upgrade if we are to push on.

 

[Cloud7]

Proper 0/10 performance from ol Fredge

 

[acnumber9]

I’m sure it will be somebody else’s fault. When will we consider the possibility that Fred hampers his teammates?

 

[Ali Dia]

He is absolutely shocking. I hope he gets injured and never plays for us again. If I’m paying for sky to watch united, I don’t want to watch them with Fred. He gives me anger issues.

…. Jesus

 

[Kaos]

He's evidently not a DM. Neither is Scott tbh, but he's a definite upgrade.

We desperately need to sign someone. Neves was bullying our midfield.

 

[bond19821982]

Poor guy, didn't get any help from Pogba. Chasing, pressing, passing ,covering, running everything on him. We all know his passing isn't that great then why do you keep asking the same thing from him. Let him stay back and be a DM. This frequent role of box to box isn't helping the team especially when your partner is Pogba.

 

[Ali Dia]

Awful performance from him but Bruno and Sancho were much worse. both him and pogba need help during the buildup. Failure on Ole for not recognizing we dont need both bruno and greenwood striking together.

I think the problem with Ole being so pragmatic is he’ll see the 3 points against a tricky side, Brunos offside in the first half and masons winner. 99.9% he kicks the can down the road.

 

[#07]

I have said it all before about Fred. We have wasted a lot of money in the past eight years. Fred's another example of that.

 

[VanDeBank]

He is absolutely shocking. I hope he gets injured and never plays for us again. If I’m paying for sky to watch united, I don’t want to watch them with Fred. He gives me anger issues.

I hope you do one. Feck off.

 

[hungrywing]

It's kind of not his fault when Ole chucks him in there by himself against three midfielders each taller and stronger than he is.

 

[snk123]

When he's bad he's shocking.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

He's never very good anyway , but the first half every game he's fecking horrendous.

He's can be breath takingly rubbish at times.

 

[Walrus]

Dont really know what he is. He isnt a DM, but his passing and on-the-ball ability are also lacking. He is just a workhorse. If we dont buy a DM this summer then we will struggle, despite the rest of the squad being in excellent shape.

 

[sincher]

Same as the last 2 games, dreadful first half, perfectly fine in the second.

I think he should go out 45 mins before everyone else and just play by himself. Then he'll be fine.

 

[kundalini]

Shocking in the first 20 mins then gradually improved, though even then, any contest between him and Traore was comically one-sided.

 

[KennyBurner]

I think the problem with Ole being so pragmatic is he’ll see the 3 points against a tricky side, Brunos offside in the first half and masons winner. 99.9% he kicks the can down the road.

We are in big trouble because this is not the first time we are seeing Bruno so high up when we dont need to. If giflord posts the 46th minute of the game you can catch a frame of both fred and pogba with 5 wolves players in front of them. In this same frame bruno and greenwood are both standing close to each other with the wolves defenders. It makes no sense that we cant seem to fix this positional issue.

 

[Galactic]

Not his best match but I think he did OK. He showed some stomach. We need better quality central midfielder but Fred can be a good squad player. Keep him but please god buy another midfielder who doesn’t lose possession easily ever so often.