Whisper it...

Fred completed a nice pass during a fluid move yesterday. It was towards the end.

He does it every now and then.

I sometimes wonder if I watch a different team to the rest of you.

He does his job. And his passing is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pstdM2rSgI

Who could we bring in that would be better?

Originally Posted by Lok

I sometimes wonder if I watch a different team to the rest of you.

He does his job. And his passing is nowhere near as bad as people make out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pstdM2rSgI

Who could we bring in that would be better?

Declan Rice.

Originally Posted by NedKelly

Declan Rice.

I'll assume that is a joke.

It's always the same people. They tell us how good the likes of Beeky, Blind etc... are and hate players that do the dirty work like Park, Fletcher, Fred etc...

He's a water carrier but he's a bloody good one. Now that he is settled he's getting better and better.

Originally Posted by Lok

I'll assume that is a joke.

It's always the same people. They tell us how good the likes of Beeky, Blind etc... are and hate players that do the dirty work like Park, Fletcher, Fred etc...

He's a water carrier but he's a bloody good one. Now that he is settled he's getting better and better.

He’s bang average pal. The midfield is a huge problem and the reason the defence and attack struggle, they can’t control a game, teams pass through them too easily and they don’t offer enough going forward, and Fred is the worst of them tbh, other than Matic, useful player to have, should not be starting.

Originally Posted by Lok

He's a very similar player to Kante.

if he's similar to kante, we all are.

would prefer someone who is similar to keane, though.

Originally Posted by dunk

He’s bang average pal. The midfield is a huge problem and the reason the defence and attack struggle, they can’t control a game, teams pass through them too easily and they don’t offer enough going forward, and Fred is the worst of them tbh, other than Matic, useful player to have, should not be starting.

The problem isn't the personnel, it's the system. A midfield 3 of Fred, The Scottish Player and Bruno should be good enough. We're guilty of playing too far up the pitch. Teams sit deep inviting pressure and we get too comfortable in the final third. When dispossessed (which happens far too often), we're susceptible to the fast break. During that interchange we have a tendency to panic because our defence is slow (unless Bailly is playing), communication is poor and because De Gea is in such poor form.

I don't get the criticism Fred gets. His passing can be erratic but not all the time. When you look at the performances Martial puts in and he still gets backed its strange. The guy is lazy as £#%&! too. At the very least he should be working harder, even if his confidence is low or whatever.

Fred is asked to do a certain job and for the most part he does it quite well.

I think people get hung up on his price tag and that he's brazilian but isn't a typical brazilian type of player. I also believe he gets compared a lot to fabinho when pundits analyze his game.

Originally Posted by Lok

The problem isn't the personnel, it's the system. A midfield 3 of Fred, The Scottish Player and Bruno should be good enough. We're guilty of playing too far up the pitch. Teams sit deep inviting pressure and we get too comfortable in the final third. When dispossessed (which happens far too often), we're susceptible to the fast break. During that interchange we have a tendency to panic because our defence is slow (unless Bailly is playing), communication is poor and because De Gea is in such poor form.

I agree with this tactical assessment (and said as much in the game v west brom), but.... the system is not a midfield 3. bruno plays a far more advanced role and neither fred nor mctog stays back. throw in our wandering fullbacks and it's not surprising we frequently get caught on the turnover. I would prefer that we play 3 midfielders, but... if we are going to play 2, they have to be disciplined. and they have to be better than fred.

when you look at the players we have had in central midfield, it is hard to understand how anyone can make a case for fred. will history file him with robson, keane and scholes or with kleberson, djemba djemba and liam miller? I just don't know.

Originally Posted by jem

when you look at the players we have had in central midfield, it is hard to understand how anyone can make a case for fred. will history file him with robson, keane and scholes or with kleberson, djemba djemba and liam miller? I just don't know.

It's not as black and white as that. There has been lots of players who aren't at the level of Robson, Keane and Scholes that have made big contributions to the team. That doesn't mean they're a Miller or Kleberson. Fletcher, Neville, Park, Butt etc... all contributed greatly to the team and were worthy of their spaces in the team.

There are many positions we need to improve before replacing Fred. And when we're good enough to start looking at a replacement, it will be hard to find one. Great defensive midfielders are in short supply.

Originally Posted by Lok

It's not as black and white as that. There has been lots of players who aren't at the level of Robson, Keane and Scholes that have made big contributions to the team. That doesn't mean they're a Miller or Kleberson. Fletcher, Neville, Park, Butt etc... all contributed greatly to the team and were worthy of their spaces in the team.

There are many positions we need to improve before replacing Fred. And when we're good enough to start looking at a replacement, it will be hard to find one. Great defensive midfielders are in short supply.

obviously, there is a whole bright rainbow between our best and worst midfielders. however, if we want to win things, we should be looking at the top end, not making excuses for shit. I like fred, but he's not good enough. he's not even as good as fletch, park, neville p or butt. not that butt should be in that group.

if there is one position we need to improve, it is defensive midfield. sure, it is easier said than done.

Before a centre back?!?

Originally Posted by Lok

Before a centre back?!?

if I had to pick one, yes. obvs, I would not play lindelof at cb.

Just realised we're highest scorers in the league this season

a really good defensive mid will make up for a lot of issues we have at CB

priority should clearly be adding a player for the right and a ball winning CM....then sell martial and buy a decent CF

Originally Posted by Switching Off

Just realised we're highest scorers in the league this season

Originally Posted by Switching Off

Just realised we're highest scorers in the league this season

If we could defend we’d be alright.

Originally Posted by dunk

If we could defend we’d be alright.

that's where having a really good ball winning midfielder would really help a lot....

a guy like Ndidi from Leicester comes to mind or even how Fernandinho was before age caught up to him....they just simply move the ball and are always or almost always in the right spot to kill off a dangerous counter attack

Originally Posted by Switching Off

Just realised we're highest scorers in the league this season

Part of it is that our scoring is lopsided, city have had few blowouts this campaign but are consistently winning games comfortably.