UNITED Mourinho looking to Fred to fire up United in midfield
JOSE Mourinho will not need to remind his squad about what happened at the Amex on May 4.
United players still carry the scars of that miserable outing on the south coast, but it will fall to others to make amends.
Remarkably, there may only be three survivors – David de Gea, Ashley Young and Paul Pogba – from the starting line-up that night, despite Fred being the only new signing expected to be selected.
Unlike three months ago, when he shuffled his pack and gave his fringe players the chance to stake a claim ahead of the FA Cup final, Mourinho will name his strongest available team.
Fred will be one of the first names on the team sheet and, tellingly, was handed his first competitive start at the earliest available opportunity by Mourinho against Leicester last week.
There has been no gradual introduction like there was with Victor Lindelof and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The United boss has already said that there is no such thing as a Michael Carrick successor – and he has a point. Forget the 464 appearances, 18 trophies and countless memories.
Put simply, the veteran helped United’s midfield tick.
Indeed, even when he played his last game for the club, against Watford, Carrick was one of the best players on the pitch.
But Mourinho had a clear role in mind for Fred when it comes to giving United another dimension with his ‘creative brain and passing vision,’ as he put it.
United badly lacked that skill set against Brighton three months ago, even with their strongest midfield – Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera – available.
On that awful night, Matic inadvertently slowed counter attacks down by taking an extra touch or two while Pogba had an erratic night in possession. You can tell Fred is eager to make an early impression and his teammates recognise that. The 25-yearold has quickly earned their respect with his refusal to use a translator and it was noticeable how they all mobbed him ahead of his first warm-up at Old Trafford. It is not just Fred who has made a difference to the midfield. With Matic injured, Andreas Pereira has slotted into that No.6 position and made a big impression this summer.
Against Leicester, the Brazilian made five interceptions and recovered possession 11 times.
No one else came close to those numbers and given how it was his first start in seven years on the club’s books, is it any wonder Pereira feels like a new signing?
Suddenly, United have the dynamism and composure in midfield to hopefully put that Brighton nightmare firmly behind them. Ciaran Kelly