Fred, Fred, Fred
When Everton were strongly linked with Paolo Fonseca as a manager last year I made a point of watching Shakhtar Donetsk play as often as I could.
This wasn't an arduous task as they played some of the most attractive football in Europe.
A 4-2-3-1 formation with beautiful attacking interchanges and line breaking passes from deep.
At the heart of this side was a deep laying Brazilian midfielder, Fred.
His role was to take the ball from the back 4 and build play through clever passes into the feet of the 3 attacking midfielders.
In the Ukranian league fixtures the defensive side of his game was rarely tested, so dominant were his team. But in European games, he showed he could cover ground really well and do his share of the dirty work.
When Manchester United paid £52m for him in the summer I was a little surprised. Not because I didn't think he was a good player, but because I didn't think he was a Mourinho type of midfielder.
And thus it has come to pass that he barely plays. Even yesterday when Manchester United's midfield was down to 'bare bones' he still couldn't get on the pitch. Has he really been that bad?
I decided to have a look into how he has actually performed when he has played.
His possession adjusted defensive stats are pretty much league leading.
His passing is both accurate (high completed percentage) and progressive (good ratio of forward passes).
He hasn't done that badly at all, he just isn't the type of midfielder they require.
A team that does require exactly this type of player is just 40 minutes on the M62 away.
Everton would get a 25 year old player, a former teammate of Bernard, capable of playing those passes through the midfield into the attacking lanes, who would have been unaffordable last year.
I wonder if Manchester United would take £25m or so?
This wasn't an arduous task as they played some of the most attractive football in Europe.
A 4-2-3-1 formation with beautiful attacking interchanges and line breaking passes from deep.
At the heart of this side was a deep laying Brazilian midfielder, Fred.
His role was to take the ball from the back 4 and build play through clever passes into the feet of the 3 attacking midfielders.
In the Ukranian league fixtures the defensive side of his game was rarely tested, so dominant were his team. But in European games, he showed he could cover ground really well and do his share of the dirty work.
When Manchester United paid £52m for him in the summer I was a little surprised. Not because I didn't think he was a good player, but because I didn't think he was a Mourinho type of midfielder.
And thus it has come to pass that he barely plays. Even yesterday when Manchester United's midfield was down to 'bare bones' he still couldn't get on the pitch. Has he really been that bad?
I decided to have a look into how he has actually performed when he has played.
His possession adjusted defensive stats are pretty much league leading.
His passing is both accurate (high completed percentage) and progressive (good ratio of forward passes).
He hasn't done that badly at all, he just isn't the type of midfielder they require.
A team that does require exactly this type of player is just 40 minutes on the M62 away.
Everton would get a 25 year old player, a former teammate of Bernard, capable of playing those passes through the midfield into the attacking lanes, who would have been unaffordable last year.
I wonder if Manchester United would take £25m or so?
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