Michael Owen and Owen Hargreaves were scathing in their assessment of Fred’s performance for Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Red Devils were held to a 0-0 draw by Eredivisie outfit AZ in the Netherlands, after failing to register a single shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes.
United’s latest result means their long wait for an away victory goes on, with their last triumph coming in a Champions League last 16 win over Paris Saint Germain way back in March.
Fred was granted a rare start at AZ and failed to impress in a holding role alongside Nemanja Matic, with an ex-Old Trafford duo singling him out for criticism after the match.
Our second #UEL game of the season ends in a stalemate. #MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 3, 2019
As per The Telegraph, the 26-year-old arrived at Old Trafford from Shakhtar Donetsk for £52 million in the summer of 2018, but has since failed to live up to expectations in a United shirt.
Hargreaves and Owen, who both won Premier League titles at United during their playing days, slammed the Brazilian flop for his latest underwhelming display while working as pundits for BT Sport.
As per Metro Sport, Owen began: “He’s just a moderate player, isn’t he? That’s the bottom line.
“We were discussing what his best position is, I probably think it’s a No.6, Owen [Hargreaves] thinks it’s a No.8.
“But once we start arguing about it you think he can’t do either role that well.”
Hargreaves then weighed in on Fred’s struggles, insisting that he blew another “big opportunity” to prove himself to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the United fans.
“Regardless of where you play you cannot afford to give it away as much as he did tonight,” said the former United midfielder.
“And he gave it away a lot. I think there’s a really good player in there, I don’t know why we’re seeing him play like this.
“At Shakhtar, he had some terrific games, that’s why Manchester City were interested in him.
“But today was not the level he is up to. He’s really good on the ball, he’s got two feet, whether it’s a confidence thing.
“It was a big opportunity for him to step up and play really well, and he did the opposite.”
