Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told Paul Scholes that Fred's display at Burnley reminded him of his former Manchester United teammate.
The Brazilian impressed in the centre of midfield as United won 2-0 at Turf Moor courtesy of goals at the end of each half from forwards Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
Solskjaer was asked to rate his display by BT Sport pundit Scholes after the match, and said: "I think Fred's improved a lot, and maybe two or three months ago people wouldn't have said Burnley away is going to be a game for Fred.
"But he's developed a lot, he's confident and he's a tenacious little midfielder, like you to be fair! A little bit quicker off the ground maybe."
United kept their first Premier League clean sheet in 14 matches at Turf Moor, and Solskjaer was delighted with his side.
"In the first half I thought we were very good," he told BBC Match of the Day .
"We controlled it and dominated it. Second half of course there will be a couple more incidents in your box because they are throwing the ball into it but great defending.
"It is a big difference to get a clean sheet. It is important for us to know we can grind out results as well, even though if you score one you don't always win but if we get the clean sheets we have a better chance to move up the table.
"There were so many great counter attacking opportunities. Excellent performance.
"We want to keep the momentum going. Two wins now and good response after the disappointing game against Watford . We have not lost a game straight after we have lost another one so happy with that. Good response from the players, they are learning."
