DC United's Fred not an A-League legend

Before Fred was exciting play at RFK, he was part of Australia's Melbourne Victory. But despite assisting in many goals, including four of the five in the final, his former coach Ernie Merrick doesn't understand why fans and players see him as a legend.

"The Victory coach said it was 'ludicrous that he has become a legend' after being reminded that veteran Socceroo defender Tony Vidmar, now of the Central Coast Mariners, had said after Sunday's scoreless draw that without Fred there was no Victory."

I have to hand it to the author of this piece for his cheekiness as seen in this fine paragraph:

Merrick yesterday said he could not understand the excitement generated by the stamina-packed Fred, whose tireless running and inventive link play did so much to galvanise the Victory strike force, particularly in the grand final where he almost single-handedly set up the five goals for his teammate Archie Thompson.

I'm guessing the reason Merrick is so interested in playing down the contribution of Fred has less to do with what he actually thinks of the player and more to do with his club's current situation. After a championship year, they have come out a bit flat in the current campaign, so Merrick is probably trying to inspire his players by playing down what Fred did.

But Merrick also has some words about Fred and DC United:

"He (Fred) had a terrific game in his last game (the grand final). Never a goalscorer, Fred. We sourced him, we developed him, and he went on to the USA where I have to say he isn't doing as well as he did with us. I think a lot of that is to do with the team that's round about him and the support he got."

Always interesting to see what past coaches think of their players now.