Fred was never going to be the stand-out star of Manchester United's 9-0 win over Southampton.
Especially not for the second half when, for reasons that were puzzling as they were entertaining and novel, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer switched the Brazilian to left-back. Funnily enough, the only other time Fred had played there was in a home game against Southampton after lockdown last season, though the circumstances were rather different.
That warm July night, United's coaches were in a frenzy after Brandon Williams — who had replaced the injured Luke Shaw — went off with a head injury late in the game. Having used all his substitutes (despite having five at his disposal back then), Solskjaer sent one of them, Fred, to play as an auxiliary left-back for the 10-men of United who looked to hang onto a 2-1 lead. They failed.
It wasn't Fred's fault. At 5 ft 7 in, he is not expected to defend too much from corners, as Michael Obafemi bundled home at the back post to give Southampton a deserved 2-2 draw.
And Fred's run-out in the position for a second time against Southampton was rather more straightforward, even if he didn't shine as Luke Shaw has shone in recent weeks.
But a point was proven in that moment Solskjaer took Shaw off and ushered on Donny van de Beek, instructing Fred to play at left-back. It was reinforced with Fred's middling sort of performance in a landslide victory for his side. It has been obvious in many United matches this season.
Fred is a big game player.
His occasionally errant passing and over-eager tackling can frustrate some fans, but that is a small price to pay when it's exchanged for his relentless energy, pressing ability and tactical discipline, which Solskjaer loves. He is everything that a Brazilian player usually is not: no frills, very little flair (bar the odd nutmeg of Kevin De Bruyne) and all action.
Ever since Solskjaer left Fred out of the starting XI for United's 6-1 hammering by Tottenham, and lived to regret it, the 27-year-old has been a shoo-in for games against the Premier League's best. He has started against Arsenal (twice), Manchester City (in the league and League Cup), Liverpool, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (twice) and would have started the RB Leipzig Champions League had he not been unfortunately sent off against PSG.
You will not find Fred's name regularly in the headlines, the only recent time being in that PSG game when Solskjaer was pilloried for keeping his Brazilian metronome on the pitch when he was walking a disciplinary tightrope.
Solskjaer's simple explanation was to say: "But there was no reason from his performance to take him off."
And that rather sums up Fred's importance to United these days. He will not always catch the eye, he doesn't have a knack for scoring goals and he's not the archetypal silky Brazilian midfielder.
Solskjaer views him in a similar way to Sir Alex Ferguson's view of Park J-Sung.
The South Korean made his name at Old Trafford for his work-rate, picking up the nickname 'Three Lungs' because of the sheer amount of running he got through. Ferguson, Solskjaer's mentor, therefore used Park to man-mark opposition players in big Champions League ties and domestic showdowns.
Park was not the most talented, nor the most eye-catching, or the most prolific of midfield players. But he was a real asset to United for almost seven years and is now a club ambassador, having won four league titles and a European crown under Ferguson.
Every squad needs a Park, an ultimate unsung hero, and Fred might just be Solskjaer's very own version.
