Some Manchester United fans can’t stop laughing at club legend Roy Keane’s comments about Fred following the Red Devils’ win at Norwich City last night.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men picked up an impressive 3-1 triumph over the Canaries at Carrow Road on Sunday, despite missing two penalties in one half.
While Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford did miss their spot-kicks, they scored a goal each. Another man who impressed on the day was Fred, even though Scott McTominay had scored United’s first goal on the day.
But United legend Keane had some harsh words to say about the Brazilian.
Roy Keane on if he would take Christian Eriksen at #mufc: “I don’t think he’d improve those teams, and that’s the key for Man United. He won’t make Man United better. Having said that, Man United bought Fred.” #mulive [sky]
— utdreport (@utdreport) October 28, 2019
Some United fans couldn’t help but laugh at Keane’s comments about Fred, even though he seemed to be talking about Christian Eriksen.
Fred flinstone getting zero love
— United We Stand (@1LyfeEnt1) October 28, 2019
@K_Buckers talking about eriksen and shuts down Fred
— Matt buckley (@MattBuckley18) October 28, 2019
Now he’s stopped ending careers on the field, he needs to keep his hand in.
— Pabs (@pablodablo) October 27, 2019
“Having said that. Man United bought Fred” – oh Roy, that’s sublime
— Lee Hamer (@1LeeHamer) October 27, 2019
Fred arrived at Old Trafford from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer of 2018 under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho. He costed United about £52m but could only make 25 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils, scoring once.
So far this season, the Brazilian has appeared nine times in all competitions. He has assisted once in the Europa League.
The game in East Anglia on Sunday though saw the 26-year-old win as many as seven tackles. He also completed one dribble (via WhoScored).
Some United fans also defended the player from Keane’s criticism:
Fred’s been improving for the couple of games what’s he on about. The other day he said we should buy Kane like we r in 1999. He is clueless
— Pablo Hussain (@Najib_1210) October 28, 2019
Credit where its due, Fred has had a decent couple of games. I’ve panned him before but he needs a proper run in the team before we truly judge him. He’s never had that chance, he needs to take advantage of the thin squad. Now or never.
— karl bristow (@KarlBristow) October 28, 2019
United’s win at Norwich was their second consecutive away win in all competitions. The recent 1-0 win over Partizan was the first time United won an away game since their 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League last season.
Solskjaer’s men are now up to seventh in the league, only three points behind fifth-placed Arsenal. They will travel to Bournemouth in what could be another interesting away game next weekend.
What do we think?
While Keane is right to say that Fred doesn’t improve United, the comments come at the wrong time. Fred did well at Carrow Road, even though his influence on the game isn’t as majestic as Paul Pogba’s. In that sense, he doesn’t improve United since he is only a back-up to Pogba, however the performance against Norwich shows that he might not be as bad as everyone thinks.