Roy Keane wasn’t having any of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s praise for Fred (The Overlap)
Roy Keane has questioned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s verdict after he labelled Fred as a consistent ‘seven out of ten player’ during his time at Manchester United.
Fred, who joined Fenerbahce last summer, was one of Solskjaer’s regulars in midfield during his three-year stint in charge of United.
Just weeks before he was sacked by United, Solskjaer was slammed by Keane over his decision to continue picking Fred in midfield.
‘Anyone who says Fred is good enough for Man Utd is living in cuckoo land and that is an important part of the football pitch,’ Keane said in November 2021 after United were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City at Old Trafford.
‘If Ole walked in here now I’d grab him and say, “why are you playing Fred in the middle of the park, huge position for Manchester United“.’
And the two United legends clashed over the Brazilian midfielder once again when Solskjaer was a guest on The Overlap’s Stick to Football show.
When asked if he sees similarities between his time as manager at United and Erik ten Hag’s current reign, Solskjaer replied: ‘Yeah, definitely.
‘It’s that consistency again – play well for a time then you don’t know what you’re going to get and that’s the worst thing for a manager. If you don’t know what you’re going to get from your team, it’s horrible, absolutely horrible.
Fred won one trophy during his five seasons at Manchester United (AMA/Getty)
‘That’s why when you have a Fred, Scott [McTominay], Nemanja [Matic] – you have players who you know they’re going to give you seven, eight out of ten every time. They’re going to give you everything. That’s the best feeling [as a manager].’
Keane then interjected with: ‘Fred… seven, eight [out of ten] – not sure about that one.’
But Solskjaer replied: ‘I really liked him in midfield – his legs. They needed them legs in midfield.’
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Asked if he believes Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival will make a major difference at United, Solskjaer replied: ‘I don’t think there’s a magic wand as in, ‘we’ve changed the owners’.
‘But obviously, they’ve got their ways of working, the Glazers have still got their commercial, who knows how it’s going to be in football with that side of it.
‘Obviously Erik, I hope he’s going to be successful. We hope he’s going to make it, but you never know what the new owners are thinking.
‘It’s about results and consistency the rest of the season.’
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