Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick has hit back at the suggestion that Fred shouldn’t play for the club again after his sending off against Paris Saint-Germain last week.
Another former Man Utd player, Michael Owen, reacted furiously to the incident, which was undoubtedly a key moment for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side as they lost 3-1 at home to PSG.
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That result now leaves United in a tough situation as they go into their final group game against RB Leipzig needing a point to qualify, and there’s no doubt Fred should have known better than to make the kind of challenge he did when he was already on a yellow card.
Still, Chadwick is a fan of the player and believes he has a key role to play at United, in stark contrast to the outburst from Owen after his sending off.
“You’re a grown man, you don’t need to do a petulant thing like that to put your team at risk,” Owen said on BT Sport, as quoted by the Metro.
“If I was a manager, and one of my players did that, he would never play for me again. It’s pathetic.”
When asked if he shared Owen’s views on this incident, Chadwick made it clear that he felt this idea was rather over the top and that he’d like to see Fred continuing to be involved.
In fact, he also went a step further and insisted that Fred needs to keep the aggressive side to his game as it’s a big part of what makes him the useful defensive midfielder he is.
“That’s the player Fred is,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside. “It was an ill-considered challenge to make but I don’t think you can take that away from Fred’s game because that’s what makes him so effective in this team, the fact that he gets close to players, his high energy.
“Out of possession he’s one of the best central midfielders United have got. It changed the game obviously with the quality of players Paris have got – United were always going to struggle with ten men.
“It was a silly thing to do but I wouldn’t go as far as to say he shouldn’t play in the team again because he’s proved time and time again that he’s an effective player.
“He’s been much criticised at times in possession, but in the majority of wins United have had this season, he’s been a big part of that. I think he’ll get a telling off but it would be too far to say he should be left out of the team considering what he offers the squad.”