Manchester United stars told to ‘shut up’ as Fred brands Ralf Rangnick’s interim appointment ‘strange’ but insists Champions League glory this season ‘isn’t crazy’

Manchester United midfielder Fred and his teammates have been told to ‘shut up’ after he admitted the decision to appoint an interim manager to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was ‘a little bit strange’.

The Brazilian midfielder revealed he felt the decision to bring in Ralf Rangnick in until the end of the season has left a degree of uncertainty around Old Trafford.

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Rangnick was appointed as temporary successor to Solskjaer at the start of December with results a mixed bag since then.

The German manager, who will take up a consultancy role at the end of the campaign when a permanent boss is employed, has struggled to get some of his stars firing, although there are now some green shoots.

Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo have been among those struggling but English starlet Jadon Sancho is now begininng to flourish.

And Fred feels the club should have had a long-term approach to replacing Solskjaer.

“It is a bit strange,” he said in an interview with TNT Sports Brazil. “I know in football it’s important to get good results as soon as possible, but it’s also important to have a long-term plan.

“I think it’s a little bit bad for us not to have one, at the moment it’s all about the short-term goals. We don’t know how it’s going to be after the end of this season.”

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Former Premier League striker Gabriel Agbonlahor was less than impressed with the interview and believes Red Devils stars should focus on their football rather than talking to the press.

He told talkSPORT Breakfast: “Scored a goal have we, Fred?

“I just don’t get it. You’ve had an amazing performance against Leeds, you battered Leeds, Fred scored and you have a big game tonight – stop talking!

“Get your head down, get your recovery done the next day, you’re probably flying out to Madrid the day after. Why are these players talking so much? I don’t get it.

“Stop talking about things you don’t need to. If I’m the manager, I’m fuming.

He added: “I just don’t understand. If I’m Rangnick I’m thinking, ‘oh, here we go, another little player is talking’. Just shut up and keep performing on the pitch.”

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Manchester United look set for another trophyless campaign – their fourth in a row – but it’s something the club’s superstars are desperate to avoid as they get set to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night – live on talkSPORT 2.

“Every player that comes to this club wants to win titles,” said Fred, who joined from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018 – a year after the club’s last trophy.

“It’s the same with me, Bruno [Fernandes], Alex [Telles], Cristiano [Ronaldo], [Jadon] Sancho, all of us. We want trophies but it’s been a long drought.

“With all due respect to Villarreal, it was our job to win that Europa League final and we failed. It’s about having a better football planning on the club.

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“If you don’t want to win titles you don’t deserve to play for Manchester United. We’re still in the Champions League but let’s see if we arrive better on next season to find our peak football.”

And when asked if it was crazy to think about the Red Devils winning the Champions League this year, Fred said: “I don’t think so.

“I know we’re not playing our best football, but we have a lot of quality names in our squad. I see many other teams playing far off from their best as well.

“[To win it] wouldn’t be crazy, it could happen, but we have to work our socks off because we’re far away from being one of the favourites in this competition.”