Hands up if you owe Fred an apology

[MikeeMike]

No. Because he didn’t suddenly improve. He just failed to perform game after game and where was this “Fred” when we signed him. Class should be there from the start , even if he is adjusting to the league. Maybe he needed the confidence boost but he shouldn’t .

 

[RedIan]

Hes a grafter and has improved a lot. Hard not to as he was so bad and couldn’t buy a game. He still lacks technical ability. A top midfielder should be able to shoot on target occasionally.

 

[DoomSlayer]

I am holding both hands up. Fred has been very very good since getting consistent game time, I think there is even more to come.

 

[Brightonian]

I don't think anyone should be apologising, just remembering that players often take a while to settle in and get going. What with the oil-money inflated prices and the unrealistic lessons of Football Manager and its ilk, patience has gone out of the game.

 

[#07]

The signing of Fred was something that completely baffled me for his first year of being at United. I just didn't see it. However, for a few months now Fred has been really, really good. I admit I was wrong to write him off. Long may it continue.

 

[Reynoldo]

Right said Fred!
Wrong said us!

 

[VeevaVee]

Fred's start and subsequent rise in confidence has reminded me of Evra a bit. Evra looked like a headless chicken initially whereas Fred just looked terrified and unsure of every step he took. Really glad he's found himself. He should be a cracking squad member for years to come as he's at the perfect age.

 

[Eckers99]

I don't owe him shit. He has been very good for a few months though.

 

[Bestietom]

He has improved greatly, but still has to contribute with some goals and assists. He had 14 goals and 9 assists with Shaktar in the season before we bought him.

 

[Thepinhead]

I wonder if a similar thread will be made about Ole one day. He sure is getting a beating from around 60% of the Caf.

 

[ElDiabloRojo]

I don't owe him shit. He has been very good for a few months though.

And was paid handsomely for the time it took him to adapt.

He owes the club and will hopefully continue to play well.

 

[noodlehair]

I still don't think he's been that good. I like him because he clearly cares and is a fighter, and both of those are something we've lacked until more recently.

Footballing wise though. He does do plenty of good things but his overall game is still very messy. He'll misplace a lot of relatively simple passes or shots where he just seems to rush them or have some kind of brain malfunction. He loses the ball a bit too often as well. If he tidied his game up he could still improve a fair bit.

The Liverpool game was a good example. In one way he was absolutely fantastic trying to drive the team on, getting stuck in, etc. On the other hand his shooting looked like someone trying to hold and fire a cannon whilst riding on a bull.

 

[Ish]

I don't owe Fred an apology. He's a 50m pound midfield signing, and is only now starting to resemble one. Good on him though, and long may he keep it up.

I do have to put my hand up and admit that I was wrong though - didn't think he'd turn it around like he has.

He still has a bit to work on though, especially in the final third, but hopefully he continues to improve - whilst we don't end up getting too carried away by it all - he still has to maintain this form and improvement over a much longer sustained period before he can get even close to justifying his price tag. With a functioning, settled midfield though, he will only get better.

 

[Catt]

I do. Thought he was below average.

 

[limerickcitykid]

He has improved greatly, but still has to contribute with some goals and assists. He had 14 goals and 9 assists with Shaktar in the season before we bought him.

No he didn’t. He had 15 goals in 155 appearances there. He was shit at scoring in a shit league. He can’t even hit the target in a good league let alone expecting him to contribute with goals.

 

[Offside]

He is still very lacking in the final third.

 

[Swearing Budgie]

I thought he was helmet, so I put a curse on his whole family.

Now he is playing okay I have taken the curse off again.

 

[fezzerUTD]

Not an apology, he was turd at first. Even in the first quarter of this season he would give the ball away a lot. He has come a long way so deserves praise, just like he deserved stick for not performing.

 

[sullydnl]

He's certainly a lot better than he appeared to be at his worst. Still not particularly convinced by him long-term though.

 

[rcoobc]

Can you believe the Anderson (our Anderson) is 31 years old. He could still be playing for us!

Also we bought him for £20m a decade ago. That's about £50m in today's market

 

[OleTheGreat]

I never doubted his ability but i always thought he transition period was tough when Jose was around. He always went for "Fail"laini and Ander over Fred. He also opted for Mctominay over Fred which always frustrated me. I was so happy when he was signed because i wanted a Brazilian in the mix and they are a different tribe of footballers who have football flowing through their blood. He showed sins of a Kante like commitment in his first few games but couldn't get along with other midfielders in the team because Herrera worked his bottoms off for the team and took all the credit and he deserved it at the time. Now that Ole got rid of Fellaini and Herrera left for PSG, Ole had no other option but to use the signing and boy! did he come through as i expected. I also think he has limitations because he doesn't always dribble with both legs and doesn't turn away from the midfielders as successfully as Pogba or Busquets (my ideal midfielder) but i think he has the potential. He should go forward always and find Bruno, Martial and Ighalo henceforth and Pogba in the mix he will flourish more in the deep role.

 

[cyril C]

I wonder if a similar thread will be made about Ole one day. He sure is getting a beating from around 60% of the Caf.

Lots of people said that, after the Spurs and City wins of course, then came the Watford. OK bounce back then came the Arsenal defeat. Can live with a Liverpool defeat after all everybody did, then came Burnley.

Look, another thread asked us when will we stop complaining, I said 5th the minimum. Which means we probably need 8 wins....

 

[Jonno]

Lots of what he does is excellent

Some of what he does is championship level

He's shown signs of drastic improvement, he looks like he's playing for the badge which in 2020, is a rarity. I'm excited to see how good he gets with us.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Should you apologise for thinking someone was a bit crap when they were playing a bit crap?

He's obviously not crap now... and is really good, so that's great.

Apart from when he shoots.

 

[poleglass red]

I wonder if a similar thread will be made about Ole one day. He sure is getting a beating from around 60% of the Caf.

that doesn't equate to match going fans though.

 

[Thepinhead]

that doesn't equate to match going fans though.

True and thank you for that. I've always backed our managers as long as I can see the players are fighting for him. And so far I haven't seen anything that suggests the players aren't behind him. The whole thing with Pogba and Lindgard I don't think has much to do with Ole. So he must not be terrible at what he is first and foremost hired to - managing a squad. But this is for one of the other hundreds of Ole in or out threads.

 

[tjb]

I still don't think he's been that good. I like him because he clearly cares and is a fighter, and both of those are something we've lacked until more recently.

Footballing wise though. He does do plenty of good things but his overall game is still very messy. He'll misplace a lot of relatively simple passes or shots where he just seems to rush them or have some kind of brain malfunction. He loses the ball a bit too often as well. If he tidied his game up he could still improve a fair bit.

The Liverpool game was a good example. In one way he was absolutely fantastic trying to drive the team on, getting stuck in, etc. On the other hand his shooting looked like someone trying to hold and fire a cannon whilst riding on a bull.

I agree. I think he is useful but not someone who can be guaranteed a spot. If we can sign a defensive midfielder who can pass, we would have a good rotation going with Fred, Mctominay and the DM. There aren't too many class central midfielders at the moment who can focus on fulfilling their roles, we can use what we have and improve them. Right now I would actually be up for signing a cheap quality player like Brozovic. Proven quality with a will to succeed, yet not too expensive.

 

[Flexdegea]

Me.


He been pretty much our midfield since mctomminy got injured and has been outstanding.



Certainly looking like the player pep wanted.



Get him, Scott and Fernandes in together we can dominate a lot of matches.

 

[Thepinhead]

Should you apologise for thinking someone was a bit crap when they were playing a bit crap?

He's obviously not crap now... and is really good, so that's great.

Apart from when he shoots.

I don't think anyone should. I just think that a lot of people tend to focus too much on the negative. It was clear that even when he played poorly he worked hard and there were a lot of positives about him. His problem was mainly that he took some bad decisions in my opinion.

 

[MadMike]

Get him, Scott and Fernandes in together we can dominate a lot of matches.

I think Fred and Scott have similar roles in the team (pushing high, pressing and transitioning defence to attack) and both would benefit from someone more disciplined next to them. Currently that's Matic. We're far more solid with someone like him in the squad and he helps free up Fred to do the pressing, much like he freed Kante at Chelsea.

 

[Rish Sawhney]

I think Fred and Scott have similar roles in the team (pushing high, pressing and transitioning defence to attack) and both would benefit from someone more disciplined next to them. Currently that's Matic. We're far more solid with someone like him in the squad and he helps free up Fred to do the pressing, much like he freed Kante at Chelsea.

That is some serious Matic lobbying there. He didn’t free up Kanté he was replaced by him. And Scott and Fred were doing fine - better actually - than Fred and Matic are doing now. He’s not been as gash as feared. But let’s not pretend he’s been “solid”.

 

[Eckers99]

Can you believe the Anderson (our Anderson) is 31 years old. He could still be playing for us!

Also we bought him for £20m a decade ago. That's about £50m in today's market

Only if he could play with a nebuliser attached to his face for 90 minutes.

 

[Fridge chutney]

Fred accepts the caf apology.

 

[James Ward]

He's decent like, maybe top four quality but Lets not kid ourselves he is world class and we will battling for the league title with him in our side.

Good squad player Yes, If we want to be battling for the title then no.

He's just not good enough in the final third.

 

[MadMike]

That is some serious Matic lobbying there. He didn’t free up Kanté he was replaced by him. And Scott and Fred were doing fine - better actually - than Fred and Matic are doing now. He’s not been as gash as feared. But let’s not pretend he’s been “solid”.

That's some strange version of reality you have there, pal.

Matic played alongside Kante in the 16/17 season, 34 league games in fact, which is coincidentally the last time Chelsea won the title and Kante's best season at Chelsea so far. Despite Matic already showing signs of decline his role was pivotal and Chelsea have struggled to replace him since, as the Jorginho shitshow shows.

Also, spare me the "we were doing fine with Scott and Fred". There hasn't been a time this season when we were doing fine to begin with, we've been abysmal most of times. We were 8th on Boxing Day when he got injured against Newcastle and we were shipping goals in right, left and centre until that point in the season. The difference Matic has had in our defence has been obvious to everyone with eyes. Even the stats back it up....

Is he the most underrated player in this squad now? I wanted him gone and thought his performance was average but after the surgery looks like he is back to full fitness and he is also playing well. Our defensive record with and without him in the 11 sort of sums up his importance.

With Matic	Games	Clean sheets
PL	9	4
Europa League	3	3
FA cup	3	3
League Cup	3	2
Total	18	12
Without Matic	Games	Clean sheets
PL	16	2
Europa League	3	2
League Cup	2	0
Total	21	4

Clean sheets in 66% of the games he played, 19% in the games he missed.

Still i don't like when he takes too much time on the ball and loses in defensive third but the defensive record with him is very good.

 

[Skills]

It's weird how players seem to get better after a proper run of games in the team.

 

[Marty1968]

Never really slated him myself as he just wasn't given a run of games to show his true abilities. Now he's settled in he's basically a better Herrera. His link up play with Fernandes was excellent at times against Chelsea. Hoping that when M'cTominay gets back those three will work well together with Bruno the more attacking of the three.

 

[Vanrouge]

Do some people look at a player playing poorly and decide he's automatically a poor player? I think many do. Maybe that's a symptom of the short-termism that's become a blight on our game. The thing is, there are many reasons a player might be playing poorly: they're new to a very different league and therefore style and intensity of football; they're managing an undisclosed injury; they have personal off-field problems; or they're being played too infrequently to build any kind of consistency—any one of which can cause confidence issues, which in turn only exacerbate the problem.

What I genuinely don't understand is the apparent inability of fans—who purport to watch and understand football and support our team's players—to even recognize the good player struggling amid any or all of the above distractions. Many of us saw Fred as a good player who was struggling, whereas others chose to ridicule him and give up on him as if they were oblivious to the qualities of this tenacious little player, qualities some of us could clearly see. Are the majority of fans really this clueless?

 

[Isotope]

that doesn't equate to match going fans though.

Out of 75,000 in the stadium, how many do you know well?

 

[Ish]

We should send half our squad to Allison so that he can baptize them all. Seems to have worked wonders for Fred