20 Aug 2021 17:56:11
Why can't Fred be the single pivot?

{Ed077's Note - Because he isnt good enough. Simple really, IMO}

1.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 18:12:21
Because he can’t make a 5 yard pass.

2.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 19:01:10
Because his skill set does not match the role.

A single pivot or No.6 in England acts as a "sitting" or "holding" player who marks the space in front of the defence. They act as the centre point of the team always offering a passing option, and often dictating the play by speeding up or slowing down the recycling of possession by making either horizontal or vertical passes.

They need excellent spatial awareness, great reading of the game, be press resistant, and most of all an expansive passing range.

Fred is like a mad dog in midfield, charging down everyone and engaging in tackles and challenges everywhere. He doesn't have the spatial awareness or the reading of the game to know when to engage safely and when to hold back and mark the space. His passing range is only ambitious in the fact that he thinks he can make those more dangerous passes rather than him actually being able to.

If a single pivot vacates the space then you have a wide open gap in the heart of your midfield.

That is why Fred can't play as a single pivot.

3.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 19:11:01
Poor first touch, positioning, aerial strength, passing range.

4.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 20:03:04
Just need a bit more discipline for that role. Carrick is my perfect player for it. It’s also no fair to expect Fred to do it, it’s not his game and not what he’s was doing when we signed him from his last club (I want to say Shaktar? )

5.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 20:37:09
The word pivot didn't exist in football until last season. What in blazes is it, and why wasn't it there before :D.

6.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 20:39:00
Yes Ports, he was a box to box midfielder for Shaktar.
And also for Brazil, he played an advanced midfield role with Casemiro shielding the defence.

7.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 21:45:49
I wonder what this site would make of a team that included Fabio, Rafael, O'Shea (midfield) , Gibson, Smalling, Brown and Hernandez back in 2011. It beat arsenal 2-0.
A squad doesn't need all the worlds best players in each position.
I like Fred, he gives his all.

8.) 20 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 22:14:51
Yes Remi. It takes all sorts in a squad. The nature of the site is about rumours and transfers, so inevitably there is a lot of interest in new possible signings.

Fred and McTom work pretty well together. As 2 x box to box, one stays one goes type of balance.

But to search for a formation that fits Pogba and Fernandes in a midfield everyone feels the need for a disciplined defensive mid who let's the rest if the team play. That would take a Carrick or busquets type player, which is pretty rare.

9.) 21 Aug 2021
20 Aug 2021 23:54:44
All the pivot, double pivot, false 9, false 8 1/ 2, Risgista, mezzela nonsense is middle management speak designed to sound smart. It's all absolute pony!

10.) 21 Aug 2021
21 Aug 2021 07:16:54
If you open your eyes and watch Fred play football, then you can simply see why he isn't good enough.

11.) 21 Aug 2021
21 Aug 2021 08:06:18
That’s not his game to be honest…… never will be and never should be with his skill set……. Which is dubious at best for a supposed top 4 team.

12.) 21 Aug 2021
21 Aug 2021 09:50:18
Spenno, of course it was try reading some books on football tactics. I've read some that are more than 10 years old that describe midfield pivots.

Mumbles, maybe. Although I have another theory. It's just tactics talk. With the global appeal of football and the multicultural nature of top level football there is a greater need for a singular football language that coaches can use that all footballers understand regardless of what their mother tongue is.

Mezzala's and Regista's are Italian phases that denote a specific midfield role. They translate as into something like half field player. It's not a different role, just a specific name in a different language for a role played in most other countries. Much like a Raumdeuter which is a German term which directly translates as "space investigator" which denotes a player whose job it is to find pockets of space in attacking areas.

In England a Regista would be a traditional No.6. a Mezzala would be more like a No.8, although typically plays in the half spaces on either side of a three man midfield.

I think as the internet has enabled people to become more involved in football, been better able to research, read and dive down deeper into tactics and the like then football commentary has had to evolve and become more technical to keep up.

We have seen football commentary evolve from merely descriptive, just telling people what happened, to trying to give insight to what the players are thinking, to now something more tactical.

13.) 22 Aug 2021
22 Aug 2021 01:07:44
Brazilian football must be in the doldrums if Free can get into the squad……or we are all
Wrong and he’s a decent player….