Roy Keane has praised Fred following his impressive impact from the bench during Manchester United's 3-1 win over Reading on Saturday night.
The Brazilian came on in the second-half for the injured Christian Eriksen after the Dane limped off with what looked like a nasty ankle issue. But his replacement, Fred, was excellent when he was introduced and provided an assist for Casemiro almost instantly, laying the ball for the ex-Real Madrid man to strike home.
Then less than 10 minutes later, Fred found himself on the scoresheet with a delightful finish. United took a quick corner and Bruno Fernandes whipped the ball into to the near post towards Fred, who flicked it home.
It all but sealed the victory and passage to the fifth-round of the FA Cup for the Red Devils and Keane, who has previously been critical of Fred in the past, hailed the ex-Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder for his contribution to the win.
He told ITV Sport: "That's probably what I think is his role - coming off the bench, particularly in games like this when the game is done. Reading fall asleep at a corner, United have looked a bit better on set pieces recently. He just walks in there, he’s obviously got a trick, lovely little finish. Poor from Reading, but lovely little finish."
Keane was particularly critical of Fred towards the back end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's time at United and once claimed he wanted to grab his ex-teammate to ask him why he keeps playing the 28-year-old. This was after the Red Devils' 2-0 derby day defeat against Manchester City in November 2021.
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He fumed: "If OIe walked in here now I’d grab him by the [collar] and say 'why are you playing Fred?' All managers have to make their own decisions, they’re working with the players day in, day out, I would look at him and go 'why are you playing Fred in the middle of the park?' And he has to take responsibility for that, I agree."
Later that season, Fred hit back at Keane's criticism and admitted he doesn't listen to the outside noise from pundits, including the Irishman, for what they have to say about him. In an interview with TNT Sports in his native Brazil, Fred said: "They had many moments of glory for United and now they’re paid to give opinions, so I’m fine with it.
"It’s their job and it’s their right to do so. I don’t agree with it but it’s their opinion. I’m not confrontational, I’ve heard a lot of negative comments about me, always negative, but I won’t say anything back. My focus is to work on the pitch."
Fred joined the Red Devils for a reported fee of around £47million in June 2018 and has since been a mainstay in the United squad throughout the last four and a half seasons, making 184 appearances in the process.
