[Bosws87]

Love Fred he's a great player to have in the squad especially now its pretty much agreed high pressing football is the most effective currently.

It's his unforced errors which are the major problem just too many at this level one is enough to be punished he has at least a couple a game, his off the ball work is likely one if not the best of the team.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Needs to go ASAP. Great to have him in the team.

 

[Remember the geese]

Lidl Kante.

I prefer Fred.

 

[NoPace]

I imagine yesterday was what he looked like when Shakhtar made the quarter-finals and he became a hot property around Europe. At one point, whenever Casemiro or a defender won the ball it seemed to go to Fred and he started a counter attack.

It could really go either way with him this summer. We might get a decent offer from a Europa League type team in Spain or Italy who wants his combativeness and experience, or Ten Hag might want to keep him until August 31st as we chase better midfielders.

Bruno as our #10 and Eriksen as his backup seems set in stone, but I could see any 3 of these midfield combinations for the #8 and #6:

1) Eriksen/Sabitzer--Casemiro(new DM) with Fred as 5th man

2) New#8 (Eriksen)- Casemiro (new DM) with Fred as 5th man, if Ten Hag gets De Jong or new ownership brings us enough money to go after a DM and new #8 along with a top striker, RCB, RB and GK and fill what I would assume is Ten Hag's entire wishlist that more likely he'll look to bring in over the next 2 summers for financial reality sake and also keeping some continuity for a team in

3) Eriksen(Fred)- Casemiro (new DM) with Mainoo promoted to 5th man, he is getting on the bench at 17 and sometimes (Gavi, Pogba was presumably ready at 18 as he was very good for a Scudetto winning Juve at 19 for instance) prodigies just go straight into the squad and 5th man for 2 spots isn't an insane amount of responsibility if Ten Hag is in love with him. Small chance Iqbal or Hannibal is earmarked for the role instead I guess too, or Ten Hag is comfortable letting all 3 compete in the pre-season for the spot with the other 2 on loan or just getting first team training and the occasional cup game or bench apperance.

4) Eriksen(Fred)-Casemiro(Sabitzer) - if Sabitzer does well as a DM

5) #8 (Eriksen, Fred)-Casemiro(Sabitzer) - if Sabitzer does well as a DM, though this seems like the kind of role he wanted to leave at Bayern for more playing time.

 

[Litch]

Fred is Fred.

 

[DarkXaero]

The amount of disdain and agenda that so many United fans have against him is so sad, and it genuinely confuses me. It would be one thing if he was a unlikeable character off the pitch, but he's the opposite. A likeable dude with a good mentality, who works his socks off for the team and will do whatever role the manager asks him to do (even if that role isn't suited to his skillset). Sure, he can have shocking performances and mistakes, but there have been a lot of great performances by him, especially in big games to prove that he belongs here, at least as a squad player. Fred would have gotten murdered here for the poor giveaway Casemiro had for Barca's 2nd goal. Now Casemiro is a world class player, but sloppy passing and mistakes aren't that uncommon for him either. But there's just such a disproportionate amount of vitriol directed towards Fred, and there's some bizarre strong criticism even when Fred plays well. Unfortunately, Antony seems to be headed towards the same perception/reputation with this fanbase.

 

[KikiDaKats]

Fred is my guilty pleasure.

He is everything I’d call rubbish in central midfield but he knows to step it up in big games. Every club needs a Fred and somehow they tend to play a lot more games than fans would expect.

 

[Scottynaldinho]

Fred is my guilty pleasure.

He is everything I’d call rubbish in central midfield but he knows to step it up in big games. Every club needs a Fred and somehow they tend to play a lot more games than fans would expect.

I just said the similar thing to a friend. I'd be mad seeing him start a game every time. But I'm equally mad when he doesn't start a big game. Really strange player but I love him.

 

[Oranges038]

Dominates Barcelona's midfield yet we still have galaxy brain takes like this one from some of our "fans".

Aye.

Fred runs around like a fox in a henhouse. But, there's no thought or reasoning to his play, that's why some days he catches a few chickens and other days he's not even close.

He's had some good games here and there but by and large he's been poor to average during his time at the club, he's just not got enough in his locker to be effective consistently for a top team.

He's not a midfielder you can rely on to produce when needed. But, "fans" who have seen over the last 5 years that he's just not good enough, get called "fans" and told they have an agenda.

I'll be honest, I never liked him as a player. Even before he signed, I didn't think he was good enough. He's never done much of anything to change my mind and the sooner we see the back of this chaos merchant and get in a midfielder who has a brain and can control and pass a football properly the better.

 

[Red Shorts]

Aye.

Fred runs around like a fox in a henhouse. But, there's no thought or reasoning to his play, that's why some days he catches a few chickens and other days he's not even close.

He's had some good games here and there but by and large he's been poor to average during his time at the club, he's just not got enough in his locker to be effective consistently for a top team.

He's not a midfielder you can rely on to produce when needed. But, "fans" who have seen over the last 5 years that he's just not good enough, get called "fans" and told they have an agenda.

I'll be honest, I never liked him as a player. Even before he signed, I didn't think he was good enough. He's never done much of anything to change my mind and the sooner we see the back of this chaos merchant and get in a midfielder who has a brain and can control and pass a football properly the better.

Outclassed arguably the best midfield in the world and yet continue to bash a day later.

 

[Bobski]

Outclassed arguably the best midfield in the world and yet continue to bash a day later.

It is the standard qualification of any praise after a great game.

"Yes, he might have dominated Frenkie and Barca at the Nou Camp in a huge European game but I don't like him and we need players who can perform at the highest level. That game didn't count, only his bad performances do"

He might be erratic but if you think he is a bad player you are simply wrong.

 

[Raven]

Aye.

Fred runs around like a fox in a henhouse. But, there's no thought or reasoning to his play, that's why some days he catches a few chickens and other days he's not even close.

He's had some good games here and there but by and large he's been poor to average during his time at the club, he's just not got enough in his locker to be effective consistently for a top team.

He's not a midfielder you can rely on to produce when needed. But, "fans" who have seen over the last 5 years that he's just not good enough, get called "fans" and told they have an agenda.

I'll be honest, I never liked him as a player. Even before he signed, I didn't think he was good enough. He's never done much of anything to change my mind and the sooner we see the back of this chaos merchant and get in a midfielder who has a brain and can control and pass a football properly the better.

You called him a circus clown pal, do better.

 

[Glorio]

Aye.

Fred runs around like a fox in a henhouse. But, there's no thought or reasoning to his play, that's why some days he catches a few chickens and other days he's not even close.

What kind of inbred, impaired foxes do you have where you live?

 

[Raven]

What kind of inbred, impaired foxes do you have where you live?

 

[KikiDaKats]

I just said the similar thing to a friend. I'd be mad seeing him start a game every time. But I'm equally mad when he doesn't start a big game. Really strange player but I love him.

He is a strange but he is our Fred. There are days he leaves his passport at home and on others he carries it all with him including his birth certificate.

 

[next_number_seven]

I think Daniel Harris said he was a midfield disruptor, you just don't know who's midfield he'll disrupt

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

I genuinely believe watching Fred has shortened my life expectancy. You go from crap like he did on the corner to world class passes to can’t pass 5 yards to making De Jong invisible.

I can’t take another year of the guy.

 

[Oranges038]

Outclassed arguably the best midfield in the world and yet continue to bash a day later.

First half he was nowhere near it, in the second half one of them went off and he got the better of it.

He did well, but over his entire time at the club, he's not done enough. His erratic playing style and inconsistency is just not good enough.

What kind of inbred, impaired foxes do you have where you live?

Ones like Fred obviously.

Once they get in there it takes them 45 mins to figure out what to do.

The second 45 mins they ravage them.

 

[MadDogg]

He's had some good games here and there but by and large he's been poor to average during his time at the club, he's just not got enough in his locker to be effective consistently for a top team.

I'd say he's been poor to good during his time here, not poor to average. He's spent most of his time at the club being played out of position as the deepest midfielder, yet despite that many (most?) seasons he's still been our best and most consistent midfielder. Or perhaps least inconsistent would be the better way of putting it, as obviously he's always had consistency issues. But all the other midfielders we've had have been even more worse in that regard.

Obviously he was shit for the first 12 months here. Struggled to get to grips in the English game. But then throughout 19/20 and the first half of 20/21 he was quite consistently good. Other than a brief Pogba/Matic combo after lockdown ended, Fred was comfortably our best midfielder at the time and was playing a very important role in giving legs and urgency to a very slow and plodding team. People tend to forget about that. After that he did drop off and was quite inconsistent for the next 12 months (second half of 20/21 and first half of 21/22). I'd say that a lot of people mostly remember this 12 month period and extend that as if it's how he played the entire time he's been here, which I think is harsh.

Keep in mind that throughout all of the above, he was being played almost exclusively out of position. Rangnick then came in and moved him into what is obviously his natural position, and Fred was then probably our best player in the second half of last season. Then this season he's continued being quite good (other than a poor first month) while ETH has continued using him as in that more advanced role. Unsurprisingly his worst performance against Leeds the other week was when he was played as the deepest midfielder again.

So if we take out his first season here as an outlier based on him struggling to get used to the intensity of the English game, he's actually been fairly good for two and a half of the following three and a half seasons. Not great and I certainly still wouldn't say he was particularly consistent, but he wasn't as inconsistent as many make out. And then if we look at only the last 14 months since he's been moved into the position that suits him more, he's stepped it up further.

 

[Lost bear]

Outclassed arguably the best midfield in the world and yet continue to bash a day later.

Yep. It's the tragedy of Fred. However well he plays, many people just don't, won't or can't see it. I know this is a minority view on here.

 

[Ali Dia]

He was motm against barca. He’s a chaotic player and capable of a really low level but he’s actually consistently effective. I don’t know why people can’t get their heads around it. Not like we’ve had so many effective midfielders around in recent memory.

 

[Imlegend]

Consistently inconsistent! I love him btw, he seems to make more glaring mistakes compared to his mates but there's no doubt he plays like there's no tomorrow.

I'd say he's been poor to good during his time here, not poor to average. He's spent most of his time at the club being played out of position as the deepest midfielder, yet despite that many (most?) seasons he's still been our best and most consistent midfielder. Or perhaps least inconsistent would be the better way of putting it, as obviously he's always had consistency issues. But all the other midfielders we've had have been even more worse in that regard.

 

[steve zizou]

I think we need to split the Fred performance thread into Fred great performance thread and Fred shocking performance thread. That way we'd know who has an agenda and who is making objective game by game performance assessments.

The threshold for Fred having a bad game is very low like it's literally giving the ball away couple times = bad game. Unless he has a complete performance (like against Spurs) or even when he does, you're always going to find people in here pointing out about how he gave the ball away couple times or took a bad touch, and his fouls are always "stupid fouls".

Fred may have played the key pass leading to a goal from a counter attack but oooohhhh don't forget when he lost possession in his own half in the first place and it led to the opposition getting a corner from a deflected shot. The corner was easily cleared though and we actually scored from the counter attack which Fred started but never forget FRED GAVE THE BALL AWAY 2 minutes ago leading to the opposition… in the end it's all agenda fuelled optics.

There's little difference between Fred and Bruno actually. Both are very hard working midfielders with strong mentalities, feck they both speak the same language!! When it comes to ball possession, they both give it away carelessly multiple times in a game. The only difference between then is Bruno has the ability and skill to play key passes and score goals and Fred has the ability to make key tackles/interception and create turnovers. Both things you need to win games and it's why we find multiple managers utilise these players despite their obvious limitations with ball possession.

But obviously we can do better than these players because this is Man United, where perfect players play!!!

 

[Litch]

The amount of disdain and agenda that so many United fans have against him is so sad, and it genuinely confuses me. It would be one thing if he was a unlikeable character off the pitch, but he's the opposite. A likeable dude with a good mentality, who works his socks off for the team and will do whatever role the manager asks him to do (even if that role isn't suited to his skillset). Sure, he can have shocking performances and mistakes, but there have been a lot of great performances by him, especially in big games to prove that he belongs here, at least as a squad player. Fred would have gotten murdered here for the poor giveaway Casemiro had for Barca's 2nd goal. Now Casemiro is a world class player, but sloppy passing and mistakes aren't that uncommon for him either. But there's just such a disproportionate amount of vitriol directed towards Fred, and there's some bizarre strong criticism even when Fred plays well. Unfortunately, Antony seems to be headed towards the same perception/reputation with this fanbase.

Every team has the 'go to' player that fans seem to forensically focus on what he cant do, and less what he can. Most of the rhetoric is still grounded in the player that arrived here, and some fans have never moved on from that.

Its amazing as many of the so called better players rarely turn up in the big games but Fred generally always does and hes had probably more MOTM performances than the majority of the utd players to date.

Im not saying hes most gifted of players but again the rhetoric of he cant shoot or pass is nonsense and compare his stats to others playing in similar positons, and his are much better.

For me Freds biggest problem is he needs to be played in a very specific way to specific system (not unknown for many footballers). He should never have been judged as a CDM especially played alongside one that arguably wasnt a midfielder anyway. Also the other problem with Fred, I think he's quite a nervous starter and makes silly mistakes, the more he tries to rectify his mistakes, the more he makes. Its no surprise that he is better in the second half as it can take him that time to settle.

Given most agree, ETH represents a new start for all players, next to Casemiro hes has been extremely good and our best performances of the season, hes been up there as MOTM. I think having a player like Fred coming off the bench or the big games, is why I'd keep him.

 

[Litch]

I think we need to split the Fred performance thread into Fred great performance thread and Fred shocking performance thread. That way we'd know who has an agenda and who is making objective game by game performance assessments.

The threshold for Fred having a bad game is very low like it's literally giving the ball away couple times = bad game. Unless he has a complete performance (like against Spurs) or even when he does, you're always going to find people in here pointing out about how he gave the ball away couple times or took a bad touch, and his fouls are always "stupid fouls".

Fred may have played the key pass leading to a goal from a counter attack but oooohhhh don't forget when he lost possession in his own half in the first place and it led to the opposition getting a corner from a deflected shot. The corner was easily cleared though and we actually scored from the counter attack which Fred started but never forget FRED GAVE THE BALL AWAY 2 minutes ago leading to the opposition… in the end it's all agenda fuelled optics.

There's little difference between Fred and Bruno actually. Both are very hard working midfielders with strong mentalities, feck they both speak the same language!! When it comes to ball possession, they both give it away carelessly multiple times in a game. The only difference between then is Bruno has the ability and skill to play key passes and score goals and Fred has the ability to make key tackles/interception and create turnovers. Both things you need to win games and it's why we find multiple managers utilise these players despite their obvious limitations with ball possession.

But obviously we can do better than these players because this is Man United, where perfect players play!!!

Spot on. How does such a crap midfielder, best games are generally against the best teams? Oh cause he runs a lot...didnt realise it was that easy?

 

[DarkXaero]

Every team has the 'go to' player that fans seem to forensically focus on what he cant do, and less what he can. Most of the rhetoric is still grounded in the player that arrived here, and some fans have never moved on from that.

Its amazing as many of the so called better players rarely turn up in the big games but Fred generally always does and hes had probably more MOTM performances than the majority of the utd players to date.

Im not saying hes most gifted of players but again the rhetoric of he cant shoot or pass is nonsense and compare his stats to others playing in similar positons, and his are much better.

For me Freds biggest problem is he needs to be played in a very specific way to specific system (not unknown for many footballers). He should never have been judged as a CDM especially played alongside one that arguably wasnt a midfielder anyway. Also the other problem with Fred, I think he's quite a nervous starter and makes silly mistakes, the more he tries to rectify his makes, the more he makes. Its no surprise that he is better in the second half as it can take him that time to settle.

Given most agree, ETH represents a new start for all players, next to Casemiro hes has been extremely good and our best performances of the season, hes been up there as MOTM. I think having a player like Fred coming off the bench or the big games, is why I'd keep him.

Yeah, this is a fair assessment of Fred. And it's a good point about when he starts next to Casemiro, his performance level has generally been very good. He also is a big game player and rarely performs poorly in big games, which is such a valuable trait to have.

 

[Based Adnan]

Good assist but the only time we have a competent midfield with this guy in it is when he's playing alongside the best midfielder in the world

 

[Bobski]

5/6 really bad moments but plenty of excellent stuff as well which gets ignored in the hysteria around mistakes.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Chaotic, gave the ball away dangerously, lots of hard running and interceptions, getting onside, crazily involved in everything and also made a beautiful assist. Fred gonna Fred.

 

[Lecland07]

Good assist for Rashford. 4 Key passes made. Did a lot on the attacking side of our game.

 

[Alemar]

Solid display and an assist as a cherry on the pie

 

[owlo]

Chaotic, gave the ball away dangerously, lots of hard running and interceptions, getting onside, crazily involved in everything and also made a beautiful assist. Fred gonna Fred.

This word describes him so perfectly. Impossible not to root for the guy, but he's not gonna keep your blood pressure low.

 

[Red Royal]

This was a typical Fred display. Some moments of despair and some delight. Always gives 100%

 

[Borys]

A man possessed. Good game. Needs a proper DM behind.

He's getting quite involved in goals, I expected that to happen once he was given more freedom, but not to that extent.

 

[BorisManUtd]

He'll surely start vs Barca given he was taken off with half an hour to go. Mixed performance.

 

[Freak]

He always breaks up our play/possession.

 

[Frank White]

Has there ever been such a bipolar player? It's not even from game to game his form changes it's literally every half. He'll always give you 100% so there's that but he needs upgrading still imo.

 

[GL21]

Solid display and an assist as a cherry on the pie

As solid as my Last shite...come on he was awful. Chaotic, as someone else described is hardly good enough. Or fred being fred. Or gives 100% etc etc his days are numbered hopefully

 

[Kag]

The art of playing Fred is to keep him as far away from your own box as possible. Do that, and he’s pretty great. Give him the ball where we gave him it during the 46th minute and you’re asking for bother.

Some fella.

 

[Lay]

I like him