Fred is one of the most underrated players in England

Isotope

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Astonishing levels of commitment, fitness and quality.

Quickly emerging into Kante 2.0
He's like the Gatusso or Davids in our team. A no-nonsense and non-fancy player (almost) every team like to have.

Although you're right that he's closer to Kante.
 

vt5060

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He's really come on leaps and bounds but still gives the ball away far too often. If his passing could be worked on he'd be a real player.
 

Van Piorsing

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I never saw him for them, how did he play for them compared to how he does for us? Were there qualities at Shakhtar we've yet to see?
Very similar to today's performance. Fonseca when managing at Shakhtar could forsee he'll need time in United to adapt.

He was also superb when breaking from midfield and going to either side of the attack.
 

charlenefan

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Very similar to today's performance. Fonseca when managing at Shakhtar could forsee he'll need time in United to adapt.

He was also superb when breaking from midfield and going to either side of the attack.
Hhmm can't say I saw anything different in today's performance that I haven't seen from Fred already consistently over the last 18 months
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Under appreciated because of his first season and doesn’t score goal. But people ignore the good things he brings into the team and he’s done this since last season against liverpoo 1-1 draw in consistent basis, he was bit off fitness post lockdown but I thought he was motm against Sevilla once he regain his fitness back. If he has ball retention as good as Thiago he would be considered as world class. Very good midfielder and so far I must say best Brazilian to ever played for us, sorry twin Rafael & Fabio but I think Fred has been miles better.
 

GledTheRed

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All rival fans dismiss him as shit despite not really watching him play.

Especially Liverpool fans who think Firmino is god cos he scores no look goals.

Cnuts!
 

Van Piorsing

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Hhmm can't say I saw anything different in today's performance that I haven't seen from Fred already consistently over the last 18 months
He played only 17 games in his first season for United. Obviously he still didn't reached Shakhtar's consistency, just like more than 50% of United players in last years.
 

RUCK4444

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He was in absolute beast mode tonight, un-droppable when he’s in this form imo.

He was absolutely everywhere, tackling, winning the ball, brilliant engine.

Rashy came on and stole motm from him. :lol:
 

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Love watching Fred as his engine is superb and is just non stop unselfish play. He seems to dominate the bigger games by sticking to his principles. Needs to improve his shooting but jeez how the Caf turns on him is crazy compared to the half hearted performances Pogba puts in which has half of the forum defending.
 

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You cannot question Fred's workrate and desire to try. He's always running and willing to battle. However he has quite a long way to go when it comes to end product to be mentioned in comparison with the other players. Ander was also making impeccable defensive contributions covering CBs in his final couple of seasons for us. Those contributions at key moments were important too as were his incredible performances in big matches where he played a lot better than the smaller matches.
 

Ollie Derbyshire

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He gives exactly what the team needs, constant energy. He can be frustrating with his passing but I’d imagine both the forward and defensive lines would pick him in first XI as he let’s them do what they are best at.

Time for him to be an ever present in the PL and CL and rested in the cups for Matic.
 

Foxbatt

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yes he has to play. His energy level is what is missing in the team. We would be much better if Maguire does not dither on the ball. By dithering on the ball, the midfield has less time on the ball.
 

EngimaMK

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You really watched that game and came away with Fred???

It was Mctominay, Rashford and Fernandes that turned that game...Why?..Because Mctominay is far more aggressive than Matic which helped Fred.
He's a good player, good enough for or squad long term too.
Sorry pal, but if you don't think Fred was not in the top one or two of our players tonight, then you weren't watching.
 

EngimaMK

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If anybody comes away from this thinking Fred did just okay or "did a job", I don't want their opinion on football. He was fecking excellent tonight... Ex-cell-ent.
 

tjb

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Sorry pal, but if you don't think Fred was not in the top one or two of our players tonight, then you weren't watching.
He's a good ballwinner, but the passing. I saw that as the major reason we struggled to bring the ball out of our defence in the first half.
 

EngimaMK

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He's a good ballwinner, but the passing. I saw that as the major reason we struggled to bring the ball out of our defence in the first half.
He was 9/10 for me. He did the things he is meant to do well, really well.
 

El-Manos

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He won the ball for Pogba to assist Greenwood. Then he passed the ball to Fernandes to assist Rashford. Then he won back the ball for Martial to earn a penalty.
Yup. He also created that early chance. I do agree with other posters that his passing isn’t spectacular but his stamina and pressing is sormthing else.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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In this thread he has been compared to Gattuso, Davids & Kante - this place is a f*cking joke.

God loves a trier but this thread :lol:
 

EngimaMK

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You cannot question Fred's workrate and desire to try. He's always running and willing to battle. However he has quite a long way to go when it comes to end product to be mentioned in comparison with the other players. Ander was also making impeccable defensive contributions covering CBs in his final couple of seasons for us. Those contributions at key moments were important too as were his incredible performances in big matches where he played a lot better than the smaller matches.
I agree with you here and disagree with the central premise of the original post. Fred is not one of the best in the league. He has nights like tonight however and he is hard to fault. I thought he was imperious today but still wouldn't say he is one of the best in the league.


.... Fencesitter United, me....
 

Rolaholic

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He's honestly been transforming into a Brazilian Kante like player in 2020, been amazing to see.

He covers just about every blade of grass and always keeps the pressure on defensively.

Hope we get to get to see a bit more of the diamond in the future which allows him to play in his best position along with being able to link up with our more technically skilled midfielders further ahead
 

mrball_uk

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I love Freds attitude, his heart and workmate....but seriously his inability to then retain possession when pressed means that at the moment I cannot see him long term as a starter. Good enough to come off the bench - yes for sure. But in terms of coping at the very highest level I think tonight demonstrated both what is great about Fred and the reason many Utd fans love him and also the frustrating side of his game.
 

Shimo

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I was only able to catch bits of the first half and rest I was following in match thread. At least from what I caught, he seemed like an absolute dynamo, making interceptions and getting around the pitch. The match thread though was so many posts about his bad passing.

In the end though - first goal, his energy wins the ball to setup Pogba for playing in Greenwood, second goal first time pass to Bruno who then releases Rashford, 3rd goal - ball played long, Fred is in our half past the circle, as ball is headed, he anticipates the ability to win it quick, is in their half in a flash, wins the ball to Rashford, 4th goal makes the run from deep into open field and well played ball into Martial to win the penalty.

Ideal world, Fred has the quality of Scholes or Pirlo on the ball but, even without it, he is heck of a player, one you want in big games, where energy and bite are needed in midfield.
 

RedPed

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Pre-lockdown he'd just come into his own, then we had that enforced break. Took him a while to get going after that but he's certainly getting back to beast mode.

Just needs to add goals to his game so that we can love him even more.
 

Ekeke

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I agree with you here and disagree with the central premise of the original post. Fred is not one of the best in the league. He has nights like tonight however and he is hard to fault. I thought he was imperious today but still wouldn't say he is one of the best in the league.


.... Fencesitter United, me....
He's great at what he does, or at least he seems to give that impression to a lot of people and is one of their favourites. He works his socks off and tries to win the ball. And his passing technique is more asthetically pleasing than Ander and Kante. So even if all 3 of them play a simple 10 yard pass to the person next to them, posters will say Fred's pass was far better. It was exactly the same in effectiveness but slightly better technique
 

Shark

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He's a top class grafter in these big European games and has pretty much made himself undroppabble once again after a bit of a spell out when Pogba returned last season. If he can sort out his passing game a bit he'd be a complete box to box midfielder.
 

Ekeke

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God loves a trier? Are you a United fan? Were you watching tonight?
Tonight was a perfect example. He tried hard and worked hard and he had mixed success. We were 5-0 winners so all is great, if we had lost 2-0 then there would be a lot of questions about his distribution and the couple of times he was pressed and lost the ball, or that he never creates or scores goals
 

AltiUn

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He's filling the defensive hole Herrera left, funnily enough I think he's probably the closest player to Herrera we could've got, they even have pretty similar flaws although Fred is much less injury prone. It's no real surprise that some of our better teams in our barren years have contained players like Fred and Herrera, they're good midfield balancers, in my opinion at least.
 

MikeKing

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I adore him. I actually thought he didn't have a great game as he had a few silly moments where he rushed and fecked up passes, but you know what? So do Fernandes, Rashford and Lindelof too. Everyone does it, but it's important for a midfielder like Fred to be calm. If everyone on the team rushes as a midfielder it's his job to calm things down and bring everyone back in possession. So I was a bit disappointed with that, but then he went on and played perfectly after it and even contributed on every goal. Crazy player and I love what he brings to the team.

He deserves this thread, that's for sure. He is clearly underrated. He came with a big reputation, struggled and has been labeled as one of our bad stories. We have had a lot of them lately, and people who don't follow the club will not shake that overnight, so I think that's why we rarely hear superlatives about him like that.
 

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Not a perfect game as some seem to be suggesting. But it was one of those performances where the sheer volume of good work outweighed the mistakes. Relentless energy, successful tackling, heaps of interceptions, good composure when pressed, good decision-making. Whenever his passing was anything other than moving the ball on in the first half he gave it away far too much. But tightened that up in the second half and anyway his role in this game was not progressive passing: he was there to defend. Complemented the strength and composure of Matic and Pogba and the progressiveness of the latter nicely.
 

Foxbatt

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Herrera could never play like Fred. They are both different kind of players. Herrera is better at passing than Fred and shooting too. But Fred is what we need in midfield now with Bruno and Pogba around. It is the intensity and his energy and his tackling. It is a team game and he is the water carrier in the team.
 

Pogue Mahone

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You cannot question Fred's workrate and desire to try. He's always running and willing to battle. However he has quite a long way to go when it comes to end product to be mentioned in comparison with the other players. Ander was also making impeccable defensive contributions covering CBs in his final couple of seasons for us. Those contributions at key moments were important too as were his incredible performances in big matches where he played a lot better than the smaller matches.
Same as Fred then.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Not a perfect game as some seem to be suggesting. But it was one of those performances where the sheer volume of good work outweighed the mistakes. Relentless energy, successful tackling, heaps of interceptions, good composure when pressed, good decision-making. Whenever his passing was anything other than moving the ball on in the first half he gave it away far too much. But tightened that up in the second half and anyway his role in this game was not progressive passing: he was there to defend. Complemented the strength and composure of Matic and Pogba and the progressiveness of the latter nicely.
Yeah. Game of two halves from him. Same as against Chelsea. Ropey first half, excellent second half.