Manchester United’s new signing Fred has been seen more on the bench rather than in the starting XI. There surely must be some reason behind Fred s continued absence because his performance has been good whenever he got the chance.
The boss has explained @Fred08Oficial's recent absence. #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 7, 2018
Speaking ahead of the match vs Fulham, Jose Mourinho went on to provide an update on the team and the players returning from injury with a host of players reportedly in doubt and to be assessed in the final training session before the team selection takes place. Along with an injury update Jose surprisingly went on to explain his rationale behind dropping their 52 mil Pound signing to the bench for the last month by describing how the present team lacks the necessary balance to feature the new signing in it.
Jose Mourinho went on to explain the reason behind his continued absence saying –
“Step by step. You have also other players in other clubs that needed their time. You have some of them that played even less than what Fred is playing.”
“I think [with] Fred, when the team is defensively stronger and doesn’t need in midfield people that is more worried in giving some balance to the team than being involved in creation and attacking dynamics. The day we are stronger defensively, I think the horizons for Fred change completely.”
Mourinho does have a valid point as his team has been anything but strong in all the departments. The defenders continuing to lapse at crucial moments, the midfield not taking the ball upfield properly and hence unable to feed the attackers and the attackers, especially Lukaku, have been out of form so far with Martial being the only good sign, continuing to score goals for his side.
United are currently at eighth position with 23 points off 15 games so far in the latest standings but had a good outing against Arsenal in a match which ended in a pulsating 2-2 draw at Old Trafford. That should provide some confidence to the boys for the next match against Fulham who are currently at the bottom of the table. Fulham can be dangerous as they have nothing to lose and United should be vary off that although they are expected to win.
All they need right now is to find the right balance, continue to stay injury free and score more goals. Also, United have been found wanting in the first half, often falling behind to put the pressure back on themselves. The players need to step up and justify their selection to the starting XI otherwise their hopes of making it to the top four may just become a dream too big to achieve.
