The Man Named Fred

Since there are two months to kill before next season starts, I thought I would introduce you to another moody OL player. I’ve already done Hatem Ben Arfa, so next up is everyone’s favorite temperamental striker, Frederico Chaves Guedes, better known as Fred.

Fred is an exceptional talent and was worth every cent of the 15 million euros Lyon spent in bringing him from Brazil. As strikers go, his conversion rate is phenomenal – one goal every 96 minutes. He’s tall, strong, fast, and able to use his head. What more could you ask for in a striker?

Besides maturity, that is. But more on that later.

Despite being injured and/or suspended nearly five months this season, Fred managed to score 14 goals for Lyon. If he had stayed healthy/calm, he probably would have broken the 20+ barrier. Fred is also establishing himself on his national team, no easy feat when you consider his competition (Ronaldo and Adriano).

He holds the record for the fastest goal scored in Brazilian history, at 3.17 seconds (here), and he’s remembered for his unique goal celebration during last year’s CL match against PSV, when he celebrated the birth of his daughter (here). He’s also the guy who lost to Kaka quite spectacularly at PlayStation (here).

A short Fred Compilation

Fred would be the perfect player….but the problem is that while he has the footballing feet of a future star, he has the footballing brain of a young child. I mean, he’s only three months older than I am, and yet he reminds me of my six-year old cousin sometimes (and I’m 23).

He can be sooo frustrating.

To elaborate, the second half of this season is a perfect example of what happens when Fred goes wrong. For those of you who don’t keep up with his daily crises, he fell onto thin ice with Lyon management after throwing a temper tantrum over the arrival of Milan Baros. Everyone thought it was odd because Baros was just replacing John Carew, so it wasn’t like the number of strikers changed, but he apparently felt threatened by Houllier’s love affair for Baros and was worried that he was no longer Number One.

Soon after, during Lyon’s Dark Period (January – March), he let his family problems affect him on the pitch and was at the root of the “supposed” Brazilian uprising, which caused Aulas to reprimand him publicly.

Quite possibly Fred’s worst game in an OL shirt.

Then, with his stock already on the slide, he got suspended for his next three European matches because he broke Christian Chivu’s nose during a Champions League match against Roma (here). Breaking Chivu’s nose wasn’t enough, however, because two weeks later, during the Coupe de la Ligue final against Bordeaux, Fred almost broke Franck Jurietti’s nose too (here) – though Jurietti the Jerk had it coming. And to top all that off, he showed up late for practice for a few days and was sent to the reserves as punishment by Houllier.

This all happened in the space of two months, by the way.

You would think by now, Fred would have realized that maybe it was time to do some serious ass kissing. Well, he did, and he promised to stop being irresponsible and said some other mature things that made me think, “OK. Fred Crisis is over.”

Illegally Recuperating.

But Fred’s moment of Zen lasted for ten minutes. After being injured in early May (just as he returned to the first team), Lyon’s doctors told him he had to take it easy for five weeks so that his ankle could heal properly. But with Copa America around the corner and Vagner Love threatening to take his starting spot on the NT, Fred said see ya and left Lyon without permission in order to recuperate at his old club, Cruzeiro.

His Brazilian doctors were clearly so much better because they told him he could start training after three weeks, not five (and thus be ready for Copa). This made Lyon’s doctors quite upset because if Fred’s ankle didn’t fully heal, he could injure it more seriously later.

Needless to say, his latest stunt really pissed off Aulas and especially Houllier, who when asked how Fred was doing, said, “How the hell should I know? I only pay attention to players who are at the club.”

Multiple rumors popped up about Fred’s future after that. He was so desperate to get away from Houllier that he supposedly offered himself to Roma. Thankfully, it didn’t work out, and by the time Fred cooled down, Houllier had resigned.

The arrival of new manager Alain Perrin means a fresh start for all the players, and Aulas’s assurances that Lyon will not be bringing in another striker will hopefully keep the child inside Fred chained up with iron manacles. Let’s hope that next year we see the Fred we’ve all been waiting for. Please?

Some Related Lyon Posts:

Category: Jean-Michel Aulas, People, Player Profiles, Team News and Rumors, Video