With all the decisions Manchester United have made in recent years in consideration, one of the most baffling has got to be the decision to sell Fred last summer. When watching Erik ten Hag’s side in recent months with Casemiro at the base of the midfield, the lack of energy is startling. The midfield lacks the true intensity to carry out the instructions being hurled at them by the Dutch manager, which begs the question of why the Brazilian was ever sold in the first place.
Manuel Ugarte is being brought in to bring high-volume tackling and ground coverage back to a team that desperately needs it, but he would look a whole lot better being paired beside someone like the Fenerbache midfielder, who scored a hat-trick last week, than Casemiro. There is truth to suggestions the current system is letting down Casemiro, and there is no doubt it’s exposing his weaknesses as opposed to amplifying his strengths, but if the manager knew they were going to play this pressing low-line style at the start of the last summer, selling a player who could cover the most ground in the team was a massive mistake.
Midfield trios need willing runners, and the current make-up of United’s midfield does not have enough intensity. This was clear as ever against Liverpool, with Arne Slot’s men running riot against a United side that could not compete physically in central areas. Fred’s intensive running numbers made the difference for many years under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, and even in Ten Hag’s first season.
Fred’s intensity
An example was a performance against Leeds in February 2023, when Fred competed 292 intensive runs to sure up the midfield, the most on the pitch, while also covering the second most distance on the entire park. A week later, in United’s biggest win in decades against Barcelona, he won 13 tackles in the midfield, scoring a goal and playing a huge part in a major victory at the time. Over the two-legged tie, he won seven more tackles than any other player.
This intensity and tackle volume don’t exist in the current make-up. Questions would have to be posed as to whether United had to sell the player to appease PSR, because from a football standpoint the sale makes no sense considering the style they deploy is the type of chaos the former Shaktar Donetsk man thrives in. In the final season under Solskjaer, Fred ranked first in tackles, interceptions, and ball recoveries. These are all vital traits that Erik ten Hag is crying out for, and yet they’ve had to spend £51m elsewhere to replicate the traits they already had at home.
Prior to leaving, Fred averaged 2.2 successful tackles per game, the most in the United team at a success rate of 63.8%, more than the likes of Casemiro, with Tyrell Malacia being the second highest with 2.1. There is no secret the best Manchester United teams in the last decade have had Fred Rodrigues in the middle of the pitch, and last season may have gone a lot different if they had not have pulled the plug on his time at the club.
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