Why did we buy Fred?

[ICHM]

Fred needs to be sold a.s.a.p.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Because Pep wanted him.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Because City wanted him

 

[Offsideagain]

Because Pep wanted him.

Yep, I agree.He wanted Sanchez too but balked at his wages citing that he’d upset the dressing room. Sounds familiar.

 

[meamth]

Oh come on, at least he is better than Naby Keita the next kante.

 

[André Dominguez]

Made sense at the time. Fred made two very solid seasons at Shakthar, including convincing performances on Champions League tough games.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

We presumably thought he was good. He isn’t. Needs to be sold.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Made sense at the time. Fred made two very solid seasons at Shakthar, including convincing performances on Champions League tough games.

Nah. The club signed him because they thought City was after him. Same as with Sanchez. Woodward got played.

Better, safer and cheaper options around at the time. And Mourinho did not want Fred, why else would he refuse to play him.

And Fred was juiced at Shaktar, and he struggles to perform for us without his special cocktail.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Nah. The club signed him because they thought City was after him. Same as with Sanchez. Woodward got played.

Better, safer and cheaper options around at the time. And Mourinho did not want Fred, why else would he refuse to play him.

And Fred was juiced at Shaktar, and he struggles to perform for us without his special cocktail.

Whoever decided Fred was worth £52 million should be made to pay it out of his own pocket. Whether that's Mourinho, Woodward or whoever else.

I'm also inclined to believe some of your assessment about juicing, it's the only rational explanation about him being a total waste under 2 different managers.

 

[1988]

Fred has potential. He just hasn't settled well and was maybe a bit mismanaged by Mourinho.

 

[dev1l]

I don't think.he s a bad player. Simply things didn't work.out for him at us.
There is always that risk when bringing in new players, especially when they re coming from a different culture

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Real question is, who's actually making our scouting decisions? The general structure of the scouting staff seems very convoluted (at least from the outside).

 

[Kostov]

For banters, why would anyone pay 52m for this absolutely shit footballer?

 

[Jibbs]

At Shakhtar he was the linchpin, he used to collect the ball from defenders from the deep and make his runs, whereas at United our defenders do that and our midfielders role is to pass the ball as soon as they collect them and then make spaces through their runs... it will be an understatement to say it is not working both Fred and Pogba, mainly because Fred is not what Pogba requires from his support midfielder, that's why they hardly play together. I hope both of them are sold, as Pogba seems like he doesn't have his heart with the team and Fred is not answer to how we want to play under current management.

 

[RedCurry]

Oh come on, at least he is better than Naby Keita the next kante.

Fred is crap.

 

[11101]

He's a good player. We just play him in totally the wrong way. Watching him last night, he was running around like a headless chicken as Matic and Mata jogged around doing little of anything. He's a possession player in a team that cant play that way, that's why Pep was after him, and its why he wont work out here unless we move away from the counter attack.

 

[André Dominguez]

Nah. The club signed him because they thought City was after him. Same as with Sanchez. Woodward got played.

Better, safer and cheaper options around at the time. And Mourinho did not want Fred, why else would he refuse to play him.

And Fred was juiced at Shaktar, and he struggles to perform for us without his special cocktail.

His 2017/18 was very good. He was never the most accurate passing, but offered his team energy. His Champ League performances were giving optimistic indicators that he would be a good addition.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

His 2017/18 was very good. He was never the most accurate passing, but offered his team energy. His Champ League performances were giving optimistic indicators that he would be a good addition.

His performances were a product of the system he played in and that he was allowed to play with a high level of risk in his play and passing. It is not like he suddenly became inconsistent in his ability on the ball and passing after being bought by us, unless we got his less able and unknown twin brother.

 

[gerdm07]

Real question is, who's actually making our scouting decisions? The general structure of the scouting staff seems very convoluted (at least from the outside).

This is what I have been asking for a few years now. I think most of us, after watching Fred play a half dozen times, could see he didn't have have an excellent first touch, the kind of touch that is necessary for a very good midfielder. I can't fathom how our scouting department missed this.

 

[Redrick89]

Ed prob bought him to sell shirts in South America, thinking he was gonna be the next Brazilian superstar.

same as with Falcao, Di Maria and sanchez.its all about making money from shirt sales

 

[Lee565]

Looking at it all could he be a victim of circumstances? we signed him only last summer and he had to adapt to a new league and tactics and not everyone can adapt straight away, even mahrez didnt have a great 1st season with man city.

Then you have to remember that adaption was during a terribly unstable period at the club under Mourinho.

With all that adaption, it would then overlap with a new manager taking charge meaning he would have to once again adapt to new tactics. Plus there is a lot of evidence that Solskjear is not a good manager at all and fred could be suffering under his poor coaching just like it looks for even favourite nailed on 1st team players like rashford, pogba and lingard. I mean we are talking about a manager that has only looked good in a Mickey mouse league who couldn't even handle the championship, the likes of Steve McClaren has achieved more than him as a manager, let that sink in.

 

[fps]

I want him to be given a run of games. It's unfair that he's in and then out, it's setting him up to fail. Give him a run of games as a £52m player and give him the chance to earn a future and find his feet on the pitch. He hasn't had that, and it's because of training sure, but some players play better in matches.

Then, when he fails, sell him, confident he wasn't good enough. Because at the moment, disastrous as he's been, I still have a suspicion there's a player in there, and that United have done NOTHING to bring that player out.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Oh come on, at least he is better than Naby Keita the next kante.

I’d swap Fred for Keita in a heartbeat

 

[USREDEVIL]

It's lunchtime, so I'll swap fred for a slice of pizza and nice salad.

 

[GifLord]

Maybe he needs a Barney? Is there a Barney we could buy in January?

 

[Focusmate]

Genuinely no clue why we signed him. Mourinho didnt particularly want him. Was it really to grab someone city wanted? If so it shows the total ineptness of Ed.

 

[Suedesi]

I’d swap Fred for Keita in a heartbeat

What happened to him, thought the scousers rated him as the new Patrick Vieira, but he seems to have fallen by the wayside.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

I really don't understand him. I am a very positive person and probably stick with players for too long, but he lost me last night. I know that pitch sucks and I am not as pessimistic as most, but he has been woeful.

 

[mattsville]

He is a very good player if we play with a positive attacking mentality at a high tempo, but we are not. If you get on the ball and see feck all movement or options it makes you look bad, then that becomes the norm and you make mistakes as your instinct is stunted.

 

[Red00012]

Fred has potential. He just hasn't settled well and was maybe a bit mismanaged by Mourinho.

I don't think.he s a bad player. Simply things didn't work.out for him at us.
There is always that risk when bringing in new players, especially when they re coming from a different culture

I admire the positively but he’s rubbish and another failure of a signing.
Neville made a great point last week saying when you pay £50 million for a player you expect him to slot into the team straightaway. He wouldn’t slot into a championship team challenging to get promoted.

 

[Ricardo de la Vega]

Because City wanted him

Did they really...or were they simply trolling us into buying a shite player for an overinflated fee? We've adopted such a small club mentality that we actually care now about our rivals and the players they want to bring in rather than just concentrating on ourselves, and it results in stupid transfers like this.

 

[BringNaniBack]

He is a very good player if we play with a positive attacking mentality at a high tempo, but we are not. If you get on the ball and see feck all movement or options it makes you look bad, then that becomes the norm and you make mistakes as your instinct is stunted.

This

 

[Tyrion]

I'd imagine it's because we need a frustrating Brazilian to replace Anderson.

 

[Ventura]

50,000,000 pounds. You could get 2,4 million bags of Hershey's Cookies & Creme Chocolate Biscuit Candy Snack Size Bars for that kind of money.

 

[Revaulx]

I wouldn't be surprised if Jose leaked that rumour himself about McKenna demanding Fred, to protect his image. I find it impossible to believe McKenna would get to choose who the club spends 50 million on.

I read somewhere that it was the Video Analyst that pushed for his signing. Unfortunately I can’t find the article now.

Edit: found it https://www.espn.co.uk/football/clu...l-director-and-why-it-matters-to-their-future

I’ve no idea how reliable ESPN is, but the article maintains that it was Mick Court who pushed for Fred’s signing against Jose’s wishes, not McKenna.

 

[sideshow_bob]

I read somewhere that it was the Video Analyst that pushed for his signing. Unfortunately I can’t find the article now.

Edit: found it https://www.espn.co.uk/football/clu...l-director-and-why-it-matters-to-their-future

I’ve no idea how reliable ESPN is, but the article maintains that it was Mick Court who pushed for Fred’s signing against Jose’s wishes, not McKenna.

Mick Court you darn fool. Pack your things & never come back. Send in the replacement nerd!

 

[MackRobinson]

Did they really...or were they simply trolling us into buying a shite player for an overinflated fee? We've adopted such a small club mentality that we actually care now about our rivals and the players they want to bring in rather than just concentrating on ourselves, and it results in stupid transfers like this.

Fred said City made a bid for him in an interview and he could have chosen them, but wanted to play for Mourinho.

 

[lex talionis]

Clearly someone thought Fred could make a positive contribution to the club. It has not worked out that way. A few posters have offered plausible theories, but from my perspective he's a very limited footballer.

 

[manunited1919]

I want him to be given a run of games. It's unfair that he's in and then out, it's setting him up to fail. Give him a run of games as a £52m player and give him the chance to earn a future and find his feet on the pitch. He hasn't had that, and it's because of training sure, but some players play better in matches.

Then, when he fails, sell him, confident he wasn't good enough. Because at the moment, disastrous as he's been, I still have a suspicion there's a player in there, and that United have done NOTHING to bring that player out.

He would need to earn it. Yesterday he looked atrocious with uncontrolled passing and constantly losing the ball. Why would we want to throw away points or opportunities to earn points by giving him a run of games? If he is shit now, all we will get out of him is more and more shit.

 

[jeff gurr]

Not here to dis' or praise Fred. I certainly think we overpaid for him. Do we have the answer to the OP's question = Why Did We Buy Fred?

We will never know if the responsibility for Fred is with the scouting dept or if someone in the organization with lots of stroke wanted him real bad.

His time with Shakhtar Donetsk was quite ordinary!.