Manchester United made ten substitutions at halftime in Wednesday’s friendly loss to Cadiz.
United’s young players battled back from a half-time deficit to level the game 2-2 before losing 4-2.
Despite the defeat, the young players performed admirably, with 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo scoring.
While Mainoo deserves credit for his performance, 17-year-old Tyler Fredricson put up possibly the greatest performance of the night.
Manchester United made ten substitutions at halftime in Wednesday’s friendly loss to Cadiz.
United’s young players battled back from a half-time deficit to level the game 2-2 before losing 4-2.
Despite the defeat, the young players performed admirably, with 17-year-old Kobbie Mainoo scoring.
While Mainoo deserves credit for his performance, 17-year-old Tyler Fredricson put up possibly the greatest performance of the night.
Fredricson was one of the youngest players on the pitch, behind Mainoo by a couple of months. He was the youngest defender to get a runout.
Yet after 45 minutes in Spain, Fredricson emerged with his reputation enhanced rather than looking out of his depth.
There were more senior center-backs who featured, including Dishon Bernard, Teden Mengi – and even Victor Lindelof, and Fredricson had the best game of all four.
The teenager was surprisingly called up into Manchester United’s Europa League squad to face Real Sociedad earlier this season. Last night showed why Erik ten Hag was comfortable naming him on the bench.
The FA Youth Cup winner is composed and showed character. Against a more physical side, he was unafraid to put his foot in and make a couple of hefty challenges, while staying on his feet.
Fredricson made a couple of vital interceptions, with his feet and with his head, showing the knack of a top defender, being in the right place at the right time.
He was selected ahead of Youth Cup captain Rhys Bennett and under-21 regular Bjorn Hardley. Both players may get chances against Real Betis, yet Ten Hag’s selection appeared justified.
It’s early days for Fredricson, and Axel Tuanzebe’s inevitable return from injury could be another roadblock for the first team, but he may have moved ahead of the pack last night.
This season, the England youth international has also been promoted to the under-21 level, and it will be interesting to see if he gets another chance against Real Betis this weekend.
In any case, this is hardly the last we’ve seen of Fredricson. Ten Hag clearly recognizes his talent and will give him opportunities when the time comes.
