Fred says Manchester United’s season is ‘far below’ what the players wanted

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Manchester United’s slim prospects of winning silverware this season evaporated with the Champions League exit at home to Atletico Madrid.

United’s players are dotted across the world right now on international duty, while a handful remain at Carrington who were not called into their national squads.

Fred is one of the players who is away, starting for Brazil in a 4-0 win over Chile last week. He is preparing for their final fixture against Bolivia, with World Cup qualification already sealed.

The midfielder was asked about United in a press conference in Brazil on Sunday, reported on by Globo Esporte. And he admitted the season had not gone well.

Fred, 29, said: “It was a season far below what we wanted and expected, unfortunately. There is still a lot of water ahead, we will try to work to qualify for the next Champions League, which at the moment is our main objective. 

“But when you come here you have to change the key, it’s another way of playing, the style of play, everything else, change. You change the key, you have to be focused on the team, because it’s a short period, when you’re here you have to be 100%.

“I try to do my best, work and when I return to United I’ll think about it again, change the key, but at the moment I’m focused on the national team.”

Fred has featured 31 times for United this season, with 26 of those games as a starter. He has enjoyed some positive moments, showing promise in a more advanced role under Ralf Rangnick.

This season he has provided five assists, the joint third-highest in the United team this season behind only Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

He has also been experimenting with his position for Brazil, asked to play a more forward role against Chile to help supply Neymar, who was selected as a ‘false nine’.

Fred commented: “Casemiro and I have to have the quality to take the ball to them. To make it arrive well for them to have that freedom to build the game, to play. 

“Sometimes, even Casemiro, in this last game, as they played with a line of five in defense and three in the middle, I didn’t need to go back so much, I could stay a little behind their midfield line, playing between the lines. It depends on the team you are going to play against, their positioning.”

Fred has shown a bit of quality for United this season when he does get forward, scoring the first goal of Ralf Rangnick’s reign against Palace, while his quick feet against Atletico Madrid bamboozled his opponent with a move at the touchline Dimitar Berbatov would have been proud of.

The time away with Brazil appears to be doing Fred some good, even though he can’t escape the questions about Manchester United.

When he returns he will hope to go straight into United’s line-up at home to Leicester on Saturday, and it would help if Brazil elect to rest him for their fixture against Bolivia.