Erik Ten Hag Hails Fred’s Impact At Manchester United This Season

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hailed the impact of the Brazilian midfielder Fred this season.

While fellow midfielders Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen have received more praise during the current campaign, Ten Hag was keen to point to Fred’s importance to his squad.

The Brazilian has featured in all but five of United’s games this season, amassing a total of 27 appearances, nine as a starter and 18 as a substitute from the bench.

He has also contributed three goals, against Tottenham and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, and at the weekend in the 3-1 win over Reading in the FA Cup.

“Fred has done it several times with his performances for instance against Tottenham Hotspur, for instance against Manchester City,” Ten Hag said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“When he’s coming on in the last game [against Reading], he’s scoring a goal straight away. He has a lot of qualities. I think they are a really good combination, Casemiro and Fred.”

“He’s playing together with Casemiro in the Brazilian squad, I would say that’s not the worst squad in the world. They have so many choices that they can make but they often prefer to play them together. So, that tells something about the quality Fred has and what he can contribute to the team.”

Fred is set to play an even more important role for United after the announcement that Christian Eriksen has been ruled out for the next three months with an ankle injury he sustained against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday night.

“Of course, he is disappointed about it, we are disappointed,” Ten Hag said. “It happens in top football, you have to deal with it.”

“It’s quite clear that Christian Eriksen, for our squad, brings top quality and he has some specifics that are hard to replace. For instance, his impact in the final third, [with his] final ball.”

The loss of both Eriksen and Donny van de Beek to injury in the last month has increased speculation that United could sign a midfielder on Tuesday, the last day of the January transfer window.

“Something coming out on deadline day is difficult and you can’t make policy on such bad injuries but we have players in the midfield department, good players, we also have players who can fill the gap.”

However, at the time of writing, United were still hoping to sign the Austrian international midfielder Marcel Sabitzer on loan from Bayern Munich for the rest of the season.

This would mean United had only signed two players on loan during the January window, while other clubs, particularly Chelsea had been more active in signing players for large transfer fees.

“I can’t talk for other clubs, I’m talking for our club,” Ten Hag said. “We have a strategy and so we keep that strategy where we want to go. We want to restore Manchester United where they belong. We are in a good direction, also it has to match our financial frames, so we started in the season, and we keep consistent to that plan and strategy.”

“I think we’re developing as a club, we’re developing as a squad in the way of play and I think you can see also the results in the process, we make the right progress. So, we have to keep that process going and keep improving every day.”