Pranav Nair
Usain Bolt goes in hard on Manchester United star Fred while Solskjaer chooses against blame game
Speaking to the press (h/t BBC Sport) after the loss to Leicester City, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to blame Fred for his role in the Foxes’ opener.
The 28-year-old lost the ball just outside his penalty area after being swarmed by three Leicester players. Kelechi Iheanacho took full advantage and rounded Dean Henderson to put his side ahead.
The midfielder also failed to close down Youri Tielemans in the second half as the Belgian bombed forward to score Leicester’s second of the night.
An engine in midfield, Fred has more often than not done well this season. However, he was out of sorts yesterday night in what was one of his worst performances for the club.
“We want to build from the back and want the players to be confident – sometimes it doesn’t work and that’s one time it didn’t.”
Solskjaer believes it is the team’s tactic to build from the back and that it does not work out sometimes. He also pointed out that while Tielemans’ goal was a good strike, United could have done more to stop him.
“When we win, we win together and when we lose, we lose together.”
Not good enough?
While Solskjaer refused to hold Fred responsible, the same cannot be said of Olympics champion Usain Bolt. The Jamaican is a vocal critic of the Brazilian midfielder and was livid at his error in the first half.
In a video posted on Instagram, the legendary sprinter can be seen screaming ‘Fred must be on the field”. Clearly, there is no love lost there.
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It was clearly a forgettable night for Fred. To be fair to him, however, Harry Maguire put him in a difficult position in the leadup to his error for the opener.
The 28-year-old was already surrounded by three Leicester players before the United skipper chose to ignore easier options to pass the ball to him.
