Fred is not good enough to play for Manchester United, claims Michael Owen
Getty
Fred arrived at Old Trafford as one of José Mourinho last moves for an incredible €58 million fee. Splitting time between the pitch and the infirmary, the midfielder has been having trouble proving his real value to everyone, with the fans and critics already questioning if Fred holds any value.
Following another disappointing outcome for the Red Devils in their Europa League fixture against AZ Alkmaar, Michael Owen was overly critical of Fred's performance. The Brazilian was one of former manager Jose Mourinho’s final signings but has struggled to make an impact for the club since his move last summer. That saw Owen state that the midfielder does not have the quality to wear a United shirt and should not be playing for Manchester United at all in the near future.
"He's just a moderate player isn't he? That's the bottom line. What can you say? We were discussing his best position. I probably think it is a six, Owen thinks it is an eight. Really, once we start arguing about it, he can’t do either role that well," Owen told BT Sports.
Owen Hargreaves, a former Manchester United player as well, joined in on the conversation that was held post-match, giving his opinion about Fred. The Brazilian has struggled to establish himself under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic ahead of him in the pecking order. This has saw Hargreaves went on to admit that while the Brazilian did well for Shakhtar, something has gone terribly wrong for him since his move to Old Trafford.Â
"Regardless of where you play, you can't afford to give the ball away as much as he did today and he gave it away it a lot. I think there is a really good player in there, I just don't know why we are seeing him play like this. He had some terrific games at Shakhtar, that is why Manchester City were interested in him. It was a big opportunity for him to step up today and play really well and he did the opposite. Today was not the level that he is up to,” Hargreaves said to BT Sport.
“He is really good on the ball normally, he has two feet, whether it is a confidence thing. You had Lindelof, Matic, Fred, that's a lot of money you can expect more shots on target. This is what you expect when Man United play away from home and it's not much offensively,” concluded Hargraves.
