Fred agrees with Rio Ferdinand over Man Utd criticism but hits back at Roy Keane

Fred's latest comments show that he agrees with Rio Ferdinand over his most difficult attribute but has rebuked Roy Keane's criticisms.

The Manchester United star has come under fire in recent weeks for a string of troubled performances.

Against Wolves in the Premier League, the likes of Adama Traore and Francisco Trincao made mincemeat of the Brazilian on numerous occasions.

It was only their wastefulness in front of goal that saw United go unpunished while Young Boys in the Champions League gave Fred the runaround on Tuesday night, too.

There have been a number of criticisms levelled at the 28-year-old and among them is Ferdinand, who told Fred to act more like former United star Michael Carrick.

Fred has split opinion among the United fanbase ( Image:

Getty Images)

He said on his YouTube channel: "In that role, for me, you need someone who can orchestrate. Not only with the ball, I'm talking without the ball. He can position himself to stop trouble before it comes.

"A [Michael] Carrick, a [Sergio] Busquets, Fernandinho does it. People that can sit in their position.

"You haven't got to fly everywhere at 100mph, but they're in a position to stop the ball getting into these danger areas, they're an obstacle."

Fred agreed with Ferdinand over his positioning but has insisted he is working hard to improve and has laid out a plan to do so.

"I aim to improve and work a lot after training on my passing," he told Inside United. "Sometimes turning in the midfield, things more specific to my position.

"As I've said before, my objective is to get the ball to the forwards, to always be ready to receive the ball from the centre-backs, receive a pass and have the right body position to control it and find a good pass.

Manchester United star Fred has opened up over his midfield role

"I aim to improve in this area, this is the most important area to improve and develop in my position. I visualise this every day so I look to improve on positioning on the pitch, an additional pass, turns during a game, that's what I look to work on every day."

Keane, United's former captain who won a tonne of trophies in midfield for the club, was much more scathing in his lambasting.

How do you rank Fred among United's best midfielders? Comment below

He said of the Brazil international: "I think if you want to play for a big team in midfield you've got to hang your hat on something to say well, 'you're brilliant at going forward, or brilliant defensively or he's got a goal in him' - I don't see any of them in Fred."

But Fred insisted that he is in the best moment of his career after being asked if he was in his peak, saying: "I believe so, as you're at a really good age. It's an age when you've already experienced a great deal since turning professional, I've been through good and bad things.

"Also you're playing at a massive club like United, the biggest in the world for me. I think it is the peak of my career, It's a marvellous time for me, my best moment."