Manchester United midfielder Fred was the club’s only real big money (£52 million) signing this past summer transfer window, and because of that expectations for him were sky high. However, up until the last couple of weeks, he’s been a flop.
He hadn’t been seeing the pitch much at all, and his form was lacking when he did. However, an injury crisis hit the club, especially in the midfield position group, giving the Brazilian his chance to get things right. When caretaker (and probable to be named permanent soon) manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the side, this team took a 180 degree turn for the better.
Several United players have seen their form elevate substantially since Solskjaer took over, and now you can count Fred among them.
Fred thanked “Professor Ole,” assistant coach Michael Carrick and the rest of the staff for giving him his most recent opportunity. He believes that United’s UCL win at Paris Saint-Germain this past Wednesday night, a result that made major history and defied very long odds, was a turning point in his career at Old Trafford.
“Of course, things have been difficult for me,” Fred said in an interview with manutd.com.
“I have been out of the team and that has been frustrating, but I have never let that get me down and have never let my head go down.
“I have trained hard, worked really hard and I knew that my time would come. Wednesday night really represented a good and important [moment] for me to be my best for Professor Ole.”
“Ole, Michael Carrick and the coaching team had been talking to me, helping me to prepare for this moment.”
“Yes, I believe that on Wednesday, when I came off the pitch, I felt that this was a turning point for me and an important moment.”
Fred and United have a big time crunch clash at Arsenal kicking off in about an hour today.
Manchester United at Arsenal FC FYIs
Kickoff: Sunday, March 10, 5:30pm local, Emirates Stadium
Injury Report for Both Sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal Manchester United
Google Result Probability: Arsenal win 40%, Draw 27%, Manchester United win 33%
Odds via Odds Checker: Arsenal win 16/11, Draw 13/5, Manchester United win 21/10
Prediction: Manchester United 3, Arsenal 2
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.