When Brazil play their strongest team, Manchester United midfielder Fred is in their starting line-up. The 28-year-old plays in central midfield, just ahead of Real Madrid’s Casemiro or Liverpool’s Fabinho or Roberto Firmino, just behind Neymar, Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Jesus, Everton or Everton’s Richarlison.
Fred has played 12 times for Brazil in 2021, the only defeat coming in the Copa America final against Argentina. Brazil kept nine clean sheets in Fred’s 12 games. Two weeks ago, he played 90 minutes against Argentina. Lionel Messi did not score.
Fred’s stock is higher for Brazil than for United, where he has had an inconsistent time which has mirrored the team since joining for £47 million ($62.5m) from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018. A year in, this correspondent received a call from someone close to United suggesting that I did some digging into who was responsible for his "disgraceful" transfer. There were no such calls two weeks later when Fred was man of the match away in a win at Manchester City.
Fred is a mainstay of United, too. Not in the idealised best XIs which fans draw up and favour more glamorous names, but in reality. He’s had good and bad games this season, but he has been influential in both of United’s last two games with Michael Carrick as caretaker manager.
“He’s played a little bit higher up the pitch,” Carrick told The National ahead of Thursday’s game against Arsenal. “We’ve tweaked a couple of things for both games and he’s done ever so well, especially with the regains - which led to Cristiano [Ronaldo]’s goal in Villarreal. He nearly got one (against Chelsea) when he intercepted from [Edouard] Mendy and he nearly scored.”
Nearly is pushing it. United mascot Fred the Red would have made a better effort, for Fred’s shot which could have given United a late win in front of their travelling fans was weak and easily saved, but he was in the right advanced position, despite United playing defensively, to win the ball, as he was twice in Villarreal.
Fred plays mainly because he does his defensive duties well and compensates for the defensive frailties of the attackers. That is now more relevant that ever with Ronaldo in the team. Fred has had some bad moments on the ball, the worst being at the start of October when he was muscled off the ball twice by Everton’s Demarai Gray in the lead to their equaliser.
That was the afternoon that many fans lost faith in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager. Yet, within United, there is a feeling that Fred was a significant reason why the team finished second last season; that his game is all about getting to the ball, blocking the opponents’ passing lanes, and being well positioned to do that. Solskjaer always felt that he read the game well, that he was extremely mobile, and that, being smaller, he could make the type of tackles that he’s been praised for in the last week.
Chelsea v Manchester United player ratings
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CHELSEA RATINGS: Edouard Mendy – 6, Another game with very little to do for Chelsea’s goalkeeper but was always up to the job when needed, including stopping Sancho running free on goal. Unable to intimidate the young player in a one-on-one after a horrible error by Jorginho and couldn’t stop Sancho poking the ball past him. AFP -
Trevoh Chalobah – 7, Very quiet display in the back three but largely solid. Also did a great job at pressuring an unsteady United defence and force an error for Ziyech and James to take advantage of. AP Photo -
Thiago Silva – 7, Another defender with very little to do in the first half but did produce a great tackle on Bruno Fernandes. Cleared a ball into the box just after United’s opener. Caught for the penalty, which saw Chelsea back on level terms. Read a Fernandes attack well but was hit hard. AP Photo -
Antonio Rudiger – 7, Unlucky to see his long-range curling effort heading for the top corner hit the crossbar at the half-hour mark, De Gea looked to have managed to get enough on it to force it onto the bar. Should have scored the winner for the Blues after meeting Pulisic’s cross but his volley flew into the stands. AFP -
Reece James – 7, Swung some great balls into the box throughout the game and unfortunate not to connect with a blue shirt. Could have easily seen his freekick on half-time trouble De Gea but the veteran goalkeeper was able to get a hand on it. Continues to be the Premier League’s in form right-back and always a threat. Booked. Getty Images -
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 6, Made his third start of the season with N’Golo Konte sidelined but it was a fairly quiet first half and he looked like a rusty starter. Was in a great position to shoot but dithered for too long and United were able to get back in time. PA -
Jorginho – 6, Kept everything ticking along in the first half and in-charge. The Italian was the deepest player in a set-piece, which saw him fail to control a long ball clearance by United which Sancho pounced on at the half-way line to run free and score the opener. Made no mistake sending De Gea the wrong way from the spot. AP Photo -
Marcos Alonso – 6, Benched for the past six games, the Spaniard made his return to the starting line-up following a devastating injury to Ben Chilwell. Looked rusty after some time on the bench and couldn’t quite piece things together the way he’d hoped. Getty Images -
Hakim Ziyech – 7, Forced De Gea into an early save on the turn. Curled his effort in the 18th minute over the bar. Didn’t look affected by United’s goal and produced a lovely ball for Loftus-Cheek to run onto but overall, too often dispossessed. AP Photo -
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 7, Ran free on goal to open Manchester United’s defence up in the first four minutes but shot wide from a tight angle. Lively influence as ever in the first half. Unable to trouble De Gea with a weak bouncing effort in the 36th minute. Insane tracking back by the winger on several occasions as United grew into the game. Getty Images -
Timo Werner – 6, Played for the first time since October against Juventus and chosen to start as a named striker after Havertz and Pulisic struggled to fill the void. Needed to get himself more into the game with the wingbacks and wide men enjoying much of the first half. Had a great opportunity to score the equaliser by skewed his half-volley wide. AFP -
SUB: Mason Mount (for Hudson-Odoi 78’) – 6, Another cameo from the bench for Mount following his tooth surgery. AFP -
SUB: Christian Pulisic (for Alonso 78’) – 7, Will likely to be glad to be playing back on the wing after a spell as striker against Juventus and supplied a lovely cross into the box for Rudiger to overhit in the dying seconds. AFP -
SUB: Romelu Lukaku (for Werner 82’) – 6, First piece of action for the Belgian striker since October to play against his former side. Getty Images -
MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 7 - Early save from Ziyech after two minutes and a minute later from Hudson-Odoi. Rudgier rattled his bar after 30 mins. Confident behind a deep, defensive, United. Went the wrong way on the penalty. AP Photo -
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 5 - Nervy start as Chelsea attacked him but gave as good as he got against Alonso. Gave away a penalty after 67 minutes after fouling Thiago Silva. He looked like he hadn’t seen the Brazilian. In poor form. PA -
Victor Lindelof 7 - Another who didn’t convince as Chelsea dominated at the start and Hudson-Odoi got a chance on goal, but otherwise comfortable and even impressive against the league leaders. United’s defence has been poor lately. Not against Chelsea. PA -
Eric Bailly 7 - Excellent at Chelsea in a 2020 win. Did little wrong today against the European champions and comfortable despite Chelsea’s dominance. Booked for time wasting after 95 minutes, an odd decision. PA -
Alex Telles 6 - Rare league start for the Brazilian and he was steady. A defender who had to defend: Chelsea had 24 shots to United’s three. Did little wrong against the skilful Loftus-Cheek, then Mount and Pulisic. PA -
Nemanja Matic 7 - Assured against his former club. Soaked the pressure up in a defensive United formation with the rarely chosen midfield three working hard to break up Chelsea’s midfield. AFP -
Scott McTominay 8 - Booked for doing nothing at the end of the first half, which infuriated the United bench. Organised. Won the ball back. Protected his defence. Floored by a shot after 88 minutes. AP Photo -
Fred 8 - United’s best player with McTominay. A rarity for a United player in that he found himself in the Chelsea box - after 43 minutes and appealed for a foul, but he was going down before any contact. Broke up Chelsea attacks, intercepted, tackled and passed forward. Tried to chip Mendy three minutes from time. Should’ve done better. AFP -
Jadon Sancho 6 - Quiet in the first half but had a chance to put United ahead as he raced onto a clearance – and he took it. Two goals in two games now for United after none before this week. Good for his confidence that he’s finding his feet. Getty Images -
Bruno Fernandes 6 - Floored after an early header. Did little in the first half, then cleared the ball from the edge of his own area to set up Sancho’s opener. Booked for a challenge on Jorginho. Tries the riskiest passes. Few of them came off. AP Photo -
Marcus Rashford 7 - Hard for him in the first half when United played so deep that their players would have been in the Thames if they’d gone any deeper. Booked after 48 minutes. But much livelier in the second half. Getty Images -
SUB: Cristiano Ronaldo 6 - Very rarely a sub, but he was dropped and came on for Sancho after 63 minutes. Did little. Booked after 91 minutes. And then didn’t get his man Pulisic who crossed for Rudiger to miss a chance in time added on. AP Photo -
SUB: Jesse Lingard 7 - On for Rashford after 76. Plenty of running. AFP -
SUB: Donny van de Beek NA - On for Fernandes after 88. AFP
Fred will never make an English teacher, but he’s popular in the dressing room, he always has a smile even when others who share his Portuguese mother tongue don’t.
“It gets overlooked that he’s the first choice midfielder in a good Brazil team,” said Carrick. “That shows how much he’s improved since he joined the club. I really like him and for me one of the biggest things which maybe people don’t see is the attitude and his desire to be a team player. He’s desperate to put himself out there to play games.”
So desperate that he’ll play through pain.
“He twisted his ankle in the first half against Villarreal,” revealed Carrick. “That would have seen a lot of players come off at half time. To come out in the second half when you’re stiff and swollen and sore isn’t always easy, but he got through that. He bounced into the game and there was no way he was going to miss the next one (at Chelsea). That mentality is infectious and I’m all for that. Fred brings a great energy to the team.”
Fred is no fan hero. The term ‘McFred’ to describe him and his usual midfielder warhorse foil of Scott McTominay is more pejorative than praise. Even when he’s excellent, such as in the second half against Atalanta at home, he gets overshadowed by the goalscorers.
But he’s coming up against top players for club and country and playing well. Etienne Capoue was the man of the match against United for Villarreal in the Europa League final in Gdansk and at Old Trafford. Not last week he wasn’t, with Fred on his case as he pushed up on the Frenchman.
Fred’s energy means he can press and now he’s charged with winning the ball higher up. That has long been a foundation of the type of football played by Ralf Rangnick, United’s interim manager who is expected to be in the Old Trafford stands for the Arsenal game but not pick the team since he’s waiting on approval for a work permit.
Carrick, usually a coach, has long worked with and encouraged Fred, even when he was performing well in training but not replicating that in matches in 2018-19. He only played 25 games in his first difficult season at Old Trafford, when he didn’t feel the confidence of his manager Jose Mourinho.
The opinion was that his head would go down when he made his first mistake, but the man from Brazil’s third biggest city, Belo Horizonte, improved and played 48 United games in each of the following seasons.
He has a big game against Arsenal at Old Trafford, but United are statistically better with Fred in the team – a team he wants to huddle before games. Fred has still got to be more consistent and give the ball away less but he is in a good place as United welcome a new manager who might value his qualities.
