Erik ten Hag is striving to bring back the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson to Manchester United.
Rather like Fergie, the Dutch coach also often chews gum during games and it can be a pretty effective prop for expressing frustration.
It was spotted that Ten Hag was so annoyed by something Fred did during Wednesday night’s draw with Leeds United, he took the gum out of his mouth and hurled it to the floor.
There was also a mad minute at Old Trafford when the Brazilian midfielder conceded a free-kick, misplaced a pass and lost possession in a duel, raising his manager’s stress levels still further.
Unfortunately for Fred, the 2-2 draw was further proof that he is a decent enough squad player for United, a solid 6/10 performer, but he shouldn’t be a regular starter. It’s also glaringly obvious he is not Casemiro.
As expected, United missed their suspended midfielder greatly as they dropped two important points in their pursuit of a top four finish in the Premier League.
That is a theme. In the league this season, United have a win percentage of 69.2 and a points-per-game average of 2.3 out of 3 when Casemiro starts.
Without him, those figures collapse to 44.4 per cent and 1.4. Even with the caveat of United’s first two games of the season – before they signed Casemiro – being defeats, that is a staggering drop-off.
Fred and Marcel Sabitzer deputised for Casemiro and the injured Christian Eriksen, but United missed their usual authority in the middle of the park and Leeds took advantage.
In the end, they hauled themselves back from two-down to claim a point, with Jadon Sancho returning fully to the fold with a well-taken goal, but fears about the midfield being too lightweight were realised.
It was also proof that further investment is required in Ten Hag’s squad if they are to challenge for the title or compete in the Champions League.
Scratch below that first-choice XI and United remain painfully short on quality and it’s partly why Ten Hag continuously risks burn-out by selecting his strongest available side in every competition.
United lack adequate defensive midfield back-up to Casemiro and it needs to be addressed in the summer.
Not all of this is Fred’s fault. One of the issues on Wednesday night was that both him and Sabitzer wanted to drift forward because that is their natural inclination.
Many of Sabitzer’s touches came on the edge of the Leeds box as though he was playing alongside Bruno Fernandes as the No 10.
Yet quite a few chances carved out by United fell to Fred – and weren’t taken – so he too was in advanced positions while forgetting the defensive shield of Casemiro wasn’t behind him.
Another mitigating factor is that Sabitzer is new, joining on loan from Bayern Munich on deadline day, and this was his first start for United.
Fred and Sabitzer did play alongside one another for the final 20 minutes or so in Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace but that was in unique circumstances as United clung on after Casemiro’s red.
It will take time to adapt to one another’s games and assign midfield duties – something clear enough on Wednesday night.
The manager also had little choice but to pair them together against Leeds. Eriksen, Scott McTominay and Donny van de Beek are all injured, reducing United to the barest midfield bones.
For all the talk of moving Lisandro Martinez or Victor Lindelof forward from defence, or putting faith in youngster Kobbie Mainoo, a scrap against Leeds required tenacious, energetic and true midfielders.
But it’s impossible to escape the impression that Ten Hag simply doesn’t rate Fred.
Having been hooked at half-time in that disastrous 4-0 defeat by Brentford back in August, Fred has started just five Premier League games since, with United more and more comfortable with Casemiro and Eriksen as the midfield pair.
He hasn’t necessarily been an automatic pick in the Europa League or the two domestic cups either, spending a lot of time warming the bench in a clear regression from his starter status under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Casemiro and Fred may be a regular partnership for Brazil but Ten Hag has found the attributes of Casemiro and Eriksen are far more complimentary and United have thrived.
That isn’t to say Fred is without his merits. In the recent derby win over Manchester City, he was assigned a man-marking mission on Kevin De Bruyne and largely did well.
His willingness to put in a tackle and energy isn’t in doubt, and he increasingly gets into scoring positions, but consistency and reliability is lacking.
Fred is also prone to the kind of minutes illustrated earlier on when his enthusiasm for chasing around gets the better of him and mistakes creep in.
The ‘per 90 minutes’ stats for the Premier League this season show why Casemiro is such an upgrade in the defensive midfield role.
So where do United turn next? On Sunday, they take on Leeds once again, this time at Elland Road, a venue where Fred came off the bench to score in United’s 4-2 win last season.
Unless McTominay returns to fitness in the meantime, it’ll be him and Sabitzer for this ‘War of the Roses’ sequel and an improved performance will be necessary.
If they drop points again, United lose precious momentum heading into a double-header against Barcelona and with the Carabao Cup final with Newcastle looming.
The bar has been raised by Ten Hag this season as United slowly recover their strength. The onus is on every player in the squad to prove they’re up to it.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
