Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was wrong not to substitute Fred before his sending off against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, claims former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood. Fred was lucky not to see red in the first half of the Champions League clash at Old Trafford after appearing to headbutt PSG midfielder Leandro Paredes.
Fred did get his marching orders in the 70th minute, with a tackle on former United star Ander Herrera earning him a second yellow card.
The Red Devils were 2-1 down at the time and PSG went on to secure an important 3-1 victory at Old Trafford.
But Sherwood says Solskjaer could have solved all his side's problems by taking Fred off and bringing on a more creative player to help expose PSG's weakness at the back.
"I think he missed a trick by not taking him out of the firing line," Sherwood said on Sky Sports.
Man Utd news: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been criticised for not substituting Fred against PSG (Image: GETTY)
"I think he had to take him out of it then and it would have solved all of them problems.
"Not only that, it would have put [Donny] Van de Beek on the pitch or [Paul] Pogba, someone who can drop their shoulder and open up the defence of PSG, which was the weak link for them.
"But he didn't do that and the rest is history. I think he will look back at that and say he made a mistake."
Solskjaer admitted he considered substituting Fred at half time but does not think the tackle on Herrera warranted a second yellow for the Brazil international.
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Man Utd news: United's last Champions League triumph was in 2008 (Image: EXPRESS)
“Yeah [I did think about substituting Fred]," Solskjaer said.
"Fred has played really well. We spoke about staying calm and on your feet [at the break].
"The second yellow card was nowhere near a foul. Ander knows that. Fred shouldn’t put his head towards Paredes [but] I don’t think he touched him. He was a bit lucky to stay on.
“Fred played really disciplined in the second half and when he makes a tackle like this you can’t really fault the boy.