Fred: Manchester United winning a trophy would represent a big improvement

Fred has highlighted how important it is for Manchester United to win a trophy this season, amid persistent questions over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position at the helm.

The Red Devils have endured a hugely frustrating 2019-20 campaign to date, slipping 33 points behind runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool after 24 fixtures.

Solskjaer’s men are fifth in the standings at the moment, and have a six-point gap to make up on Chelsea in the race for the final Champions League spot.

United are still in contention for three major trophies, having progressed to the last four in Carabao Cup, the last 32 in the Europa League and the fifth round of the FA Cup.

However, they have a mountain to climb in order to reach the League Cup final after losing 3-1 to Manchester City in the first leg of their semi-final tie at the start of the month.

Fred is aware that only a victory by two clear goals in the reverse fixture will see United through, but he believes a comeback is still possible.

It has been suggested that Solskjaer has failed to affect significant change since inheriting the managerial reigns at Old Trafford, but Fred thinks securing a major piece of silverware would be a sign of progress.

“We have to believe. If we don’t believe in ourselves, who else will?” the Brazilian told MUTV. “We’ll do everything possible to reverse City’s lead and do our best to get the win and make the final.

“As I said, winning a trophy is really important for us. We have to do our best as it will help us this season, it will help us with all the challenges we face.

“Winning something would represent a big improvement.”

Fred played a crucial role in United’s stunning comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last season, and proved himself a big game player once again during a 2-1 win over City at Etihad Stadium on December 7.

The 26-year-old has called on his team-mates to draw on the experience of both matches in order to pull off another unlikely turnaround on Wednesday night.

“They’re different games, one was in the Champions League in another country,” Fred added. “They’re different types of games. The other game is against City in the same country, who play in the same championship as us, and we lost against them in the first leg.

“We need to think about the PSG game as it was a great comeback and also think about the big performance in the last match away against City.

“We know it will be very difficult but we’ll go for the win and believe in ourselves until the final whistle.

“We’d be really happy with a win and a place in the Carabao Cup final.”

After their latest meeting with City, United will prepare for a home fixture against Wolves this weekend, which marks their final outing before the Premier League shuts up shop for the winter break.