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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Milne

Michael Carrick explains how Fred saved his Man Utd career after poor start at Old Trafford

Manchester United coach Michael Carrick had praised midfielder Fred for how he has turned his form around at the club following a disappointing first season.

Fred was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 but struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League initially, attracting criticism from supporters and pundits.

This season, however, has seen a marked improvement in the Brazilian, and he has already made six more appearances than he did during the whole of the previous campaign.

Speaking to the club's official website from their training camp in Marbella, Carrick lauded the efforts of the 26-year-old, and backed him to keep getting better and better.

Fred has played a key role for Manchester United this season (PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/REX)

"Yeah, I think he's done great," Carrick said. "It's not always easy, I think history tells you that.

"When you look through the pages of this club when new signings have come in, sometimes it takes a little time to adapt, you know that, and it doesn't mean they're not good players or they don't have real good quality in their play.

"I think it's just what playing for this club brings and playing in the league. The Premier League is so different to other leagues, so, sometimes, it takes time to get used to it, but credit to Fred. He's stuck at it, he's learnt and he's been willing to put the work in and try to improve.

Fred will hope to continue his good form against Chelsea on Monday (CameraSport via Getty Images)

"He's been fantastic for quite some time now and I'm sure there's more to come, because he's that kind of boy. He wants to keep improving, he wants to keep learning, keep getting better and there's plenty more to improve, of course, like any player, so we'll keep working at it."

Fred will have to be at his best if United are to get a result in their huge game against fellow top-four challengers Chelsea on Monday.

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