[Cassidy]

Against a team sitting back and comfortably defending against us. He had a lack of ideas, the same as the other central players but with Casemiro taking on most of the defensive responsibility its on him to help Bruno create.

First start of the season, should have had a goal. Hes not a creative midfielder either.

I think he would have been useful against City

Saying that if we could get a CM in Jan would happily sell him and Donny to fund

 

[Ekeke]

First start of the season, should have had a goal. Hes not a creative midfielder either.

I think he would have been useful against City

Sure, for them

 

[Cassidy]

Sure, for them

Yes because they didnt have the run of the midfield with our lack of legs and energy

 

[Ekeke]

Yes because they didnt have the run of the midfield with our lack of legs and energy

If you think thats all we lacked against City you are mistaken.

Fred's lack of quality would have been even more apparent

 

[Borys]

Against a team sitting back and comfortably defending against us. He had a lack of ideas, the same as the other central players but with Casemiro taking on most of the defensive responsibility its on him to help Bruno create.

This is by the way the 6th placed team in the Cypriot league and havent got a single point in the europa league after qualifying. They lost 3-0 at home to Sheriff

Now they defended well, but if you're a mid table premier league player you should be able to show the difference in quality

We had 4 attacking players in and around the box, plus two fullbacks very high. You can always say the midfield is there to create as well, and no denying Casemiro (a DM) did better job offensively than Fred, but overall I don't think it's fair to criticize midfield after a game we created lots of chances, had 30 shots and 80% possession.

This game could have ended 4-0 easily with the same chances we had, would people still moan about Fred not helping Bruno to create?

I think he had an ok game, he doesn't play regular football what always makes a big difference for him, plus I would imagine he will be more useful in games opponent is more willing to attack and we can get the ball when they're stretched. I still think he did fine yesterday.

Just watch that again if you are still making excuses for him, he lost the ball multiple times With poor control, no ability to stand to a physical challenge and generally sloppy passing. He seems a good guy and works hard but you can’t play a possession game with him.

Maybe when we defend deep and need someone to chase around midfield against better teams he has a role but in a game like that he is no addition. He could be a good buy for a bottom half team that sit back and want a high energy pressing midfielder but for us he won’t get us to the next level.

How is that a conclusion after a game in which we had 78% of possession? He was decent, nothing more, but there is a massive overreaction to his performance after a game in which we totally dominated the opposition and created loads of chances. Midfield is hardly to blame for our forwards not able to finish.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of Fred, but it seems like our forwards being bad in front of the goal gives people an excuse to bash Fred. Again, I wonder if we would be having those discussions if we finished 4-0 (what could've happened easily with the same chances we had yesterday).

 

[Oranges038]

First start of the season, should have had a goal. Hes not a creative midfielder either.

I think he would have been useful against City

Saying that if we could get a CM in Jan would happily sell him and Donny to fund

People were saying he should play further forward because he's not a defensive midfielder either.

He offers so little, does anyone really know what he is?

 

[Ekeke]

People were saying he should play further forward because he's not a defensive midfielder either.

He offers so little, does anyone really know what he is?

He's whatever he isnt played so he has an out for not playing that well

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Against a team sitting back and comfortably defending against us. He had a lack of ideas, the same as the other central players but with Casemiro taking on most of the defensive responsibility its on him to help Bruno create.

This is by the way the 6th placed team in the Cypriot league and havent got a single point in the europa league after qualifying. They lost 3-0 at home to Sheriff

Now they defended well, but if you're a mid table premier league player you should be able to show the difference in quality

You’re so strange. Genuinely mind-blowing that anyone could watch the game last night and conclude that our failure to create chances was the main issue.

 

[Ekeke]

We had 4 attacking players in and around the box, plus two fullbacks very high. You can always say the midfield is there to create as well, and no denying Casemiro (a DM) did better job offensively than Fred, but overall I don't think it's fair to criticize midfield after a game we created lots of chances, had 30 shots and 80% possession.

This game could have ended 4-0 easily with the same chances we had, would people still moan about Fred not helping Bruno to create?

I think he had an ok game, he doesn't play regular football what always makes a big difference for him, plus I would imagine he will be more useful in games opponent is more willing to attack and we can get the ball when they're stretched. I still think he did fine yesterday.

Other than Bruno trying to force things and not having much success, our midfield pretty much passed the ball onto the wings with easy passes. They were still doing that when Eriksen came on and we had minutes to go to avoid a very poor result. Our CBs can do that. The midfielders need to provide some central penetration with supporting runs and passes that play our attackers into chances with a proper sight of goal and preferably inside the box too. One of the main differences in the start of the season as compared to last season was that we had those passes in the early weeks.

 

[Borys]

Other than Bruno trying to force things and not having much success, our midfield pretty much passed the ball onto the wings with easy passes. They were still doing that when Eriksen came on and we had minutes to go to avoid a very poor result. Our CBs can do that. The midfielders need to provide some central penetration with supporting runs and passes that play our attackers into chances with a proper sight of goal and preferably inside the box too. One of the main differences in the start of the season as compared to last season was that we had those passes in the early weeks.

Did we play against team sitting back and defending with 9/10/11 players around the box though?
I hear what you're saying, but I always think it's very rare that midfielders in 4231 provide penetrating passes to put players into chances against low defensive line. Both Fred and Casemiro were close to scoring yesterday as well.
I have no issue with that performance of Fred really, he did his job, I think you expect too much of him in considering the circumstances (opposition setup, our setup with fullbacks high, and Fred not playing any regular football this season). Him and Casemiro controlled the game (how often that happens for us?) and provided a very good base for our attacking players, I think there's no denying of that. He might had a bit meh game on individual level, but that would be low on the list of issues we had yesterday. And I do think we had a very good game.

 

[Olecurls99]

He made 94% of his passes today on 54 attempts.

Stop using facts to make your case Skills. We're having fun here

 

[acnumber9]

How is that a conclusion after a game in which we had 78% of possession?

You can keep possession without moving the ball effectively. Playing a pass slowly counts as successful. It’s not actually successful if you allow the opposition to position themselves easily.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

You can keep possession without moving the ball effectively. Playing a pass slowly counts as successful. It’s not actually successful if you allow the opposition to position themselves easily.

We created an absolute shit load of chances, so we clearly moved the ball effectively through midfield.

 

[acnumber9]

We created an absolute shit load of chances, so we clearly moved the ball effectively through midfield.

Was it Fred doing it though? I missed the first twenty minutes so maybe I missed things he did well but Casemiro both moved the ball quicker and better from what I seen. Fred likes to play in the advanced midfield position despite having neither the dribbling ability, passing ability or finishing ability to justify it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Was it Fred doing it though? I missed the first twenty minutes so maybe I missed things he did well but Casemiro both moved the ball quicker and better from what I seen. Fred likes to play in the advanced midfield position despite having neither the dribbling ability, passing ability or finishing ability to justify it.

Yeah, he played well. On and off the ball.

Obviously, this will be ignored by those who are determined to criticise him for every single performance.

Equally obviously, this doesn’t make up for his terrible performances earlier in the season. So a big question mark about whether he can play that well again, against less shit opposition.

 

[Godfather]

Not sure why he'd get criticised for yesterday's performance. I thought he did well. Not his fault our strikers don't know how to put the ball into the net.

 

[Borys]

You can keep possession without moving the ball effectively. Playing a pass slowly counts as successful. It’s not actually successful if you allow the opposition to position themselves easily.

Was it Fred doing it though? I missed the first twenty minutes so maybe I missed things he did well but Casemiro both moved the ball quicker and better from what I seen. Fred likes to play in the advanced midfield position despite having neither the dribbling ability, passing ability or finishing ability to justify it.

As a team we had a very good game, completely shut down the opposition and created a lot of good chances. I understand Fred is the weakest link but it feels like you're looking for a stick to beat him with, because it wasn't Fred who created those chances.

I can hardly understand how any of our midfielders can be blamed for this result (because the performance was clearly very good).

 

[AR87]

How does anybody have an impassioned negative view of Fred's performance after that game. I am a fan of his, but I don't even think he played that well, just fine. Could have done some things better and yes it was poor opposition, but we controlled the game in midfield throughout, pinned them in virtually the entire game, and created loads of chances through our collective play which our attackers didn't capitalize on.

He wasn't a standout performer for us, but he wasn't some massive issue, and if we're being honest it's not as if Eriksen provided anything substantially improved in yesterday's match when he came on.

 

[Cassidy]

If you think thats all we lacked against City you are mistaken.

Fred's lack of quality would have been even more apparent

Who said thats ALL we lacked but we quite obviously lacked that

 

[Cassidy]

People were saying he should play further forward because he's not a defensive midfielder either.

He offers so little, does anyone really know what he is?

He offers the ability to press harry and win the ball back in midfield. He is a defensive midfielder in my opinion. Just not a very good one

 

[acnumber9]

Yeah, he played well. On and off the ball.

Obviously, this will be ignored by those who are determined to criticise him for every single performance.

Equally obviously, this doesn’t make up for his terrible performances earlier in the season. So a big question mark about whether he can play that well again, against less shit opposition.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on that.

 

[acnumber9]

As a team we had a very good game, completely shut down the opposition and created a lot of good chances. I understand Fred is the weakest link but it feels like you're looking for a stick to beat him with, because it wasn't Fred who created those chances.

I can hardly understand how any of our midfielders can be blamed for this result (because the performance was clearly very good).

There was nothing to shut down. They didn’t attack. If you’re going to be playing in the advanced attacking position’s Fred wants to then you need to be able to do more than he does. A big part of why we only won 1-0 was two very good chances he missed.

 

[Kostov]

Can anyone please explain to me what did this guy contribute last night that Iqbal wouldn't have? What is the fecking point of him? Square pass here and there, straight shot at the keeper, a regular feck up here and there, I bet our young midfielder Zidane can do the same, and maybe improve in the long run. With Fred this is as good as he has been from day one.

 

[Levenstein]

Had a very good game. Could've should've scored two last night.

Very good runs in the box, was available and took good positions on and off the ball. Much better touches and confidence on the ball. I don't know what game most of you were watching.

 

[Ekeke]

He offers the ability to press harry and win the ball back in midfield. He is a defensive midfielder in my opinion. Just not a very good one

I personally wouldnt consider that a defensive midfielder, because an important part of defending is positional and protecting via where you are positioned. Fred's style is to press away from his position creating holes should the press fail. And with us and him it constantly does because he presses regardless of whether the team are pressing with him or hes going on his own.

I see that as more of a (generic) central midfielder or a combative midfielder. A generic central midfielder should be able to run and press and have a desire to win the ball, and also play a fairly simple passing game. And they should also come up with the occasional goal, which is something Fred did do last season. So to me he's a normal central midfielder just not a very good one whos main quality is running.

 

[Drainy]

Do people see how shit he is now?

 

[horsechoker]

Please keep it constructive

 

[Samid]

A complete wasteman of a player. Sick of watching him.

 

[Berbasbullet]

My word that was a real bad miss.

 

[Nico87]

He seemed consistently confused by the physics of the round object on the pitch.

 

[Based Adnan]

Incredibly poor footballer

No way Iqbal or Mainoo can do any worse than this guy. He was a net negative for us today.

 

[Giant Midget]

50 million pounds for 50 million shit first touches.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

The worst performance I've seen in a United shirt.

 

[kouroux]

Keep playing the same shite players, get the same type of performances. We know what Fred is all about, time to send his ass packing.

 

[Hulme91]

50 million. 50 fecking million

 

[Erics_Collar]

One of his worst performances for the club, which is saying something.

 

[The Gatekeeper]

Here comes the scapegoating.

 

[ha_rooney]

Should’ve been sold 2 years ago. Runs a lot & that’s about it.

 

[Nick.]

shocking performance. really, really poor

 

[Rozay]

Shocking performance. Absolutely terrible stuff.