Manchester United's fringe players had a chance to press their claims for regular first-team selection during Saturday's FA Cup third round clash with Reading, although it is fair to say that plenty of those players left Red Devils fans underwhelmed.
United were poor during the first-half of the match at Old Trafford, but still lead 2-0. That didn't stop angry fans taking to Twitter to vent their fury at the underperforming United stars, not least Fred.
Much was expected of the Brazilian midfielder when he signed from Shakhtar Donetsk for £52m last summer but he has struggled to adapt to life in England this season, initially struggling in Jose Mourinho's beleaguered team before failing to impress for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men on Saturday.
United fans weren't happy at half-time...
McTominay should go to League 1, Pereira has the talent and vision to play as an attacking 8, Fred should go to Everton [@Pumpinowsky]
We may be leading by 2-0 but Pereira and Fred have been very poor. In fact they have been so bad that saying "very poor" is appreciation. [@sportsblogger7c]
Really don't know who saw anything in Fred. Dreadful waste of money [@alansmith1955]
Fred's performance, along with his fellow struggling midfielders even drew the ire of Irish bookmaker Paddy Power...
Fred was a touch unlucky as he could have been the man to open the scoring for United at Old Trafford as he was correctly ruled offside, before VAR intervened to award the penalty which Juan Mata safely ticked away.
United fans were in unforgiving mood though...
Makeshift midfield has been non-existent. Pereira needs to be shipped out. McTominay is no where close to been a Man Utd player. Just decent. As for Fred, hmm, we need a new recruitment director. [@eeroon]
Good goal but disappointing first half. Some fringe players like Mata and Jones looking imperious at this level but very worrying that likes of Fred and Perreira are still struggling against mediocre opposition [@danglerdalton]
Fred is still only 25 years of age, so time is still on his side, although it is clear that plenty of United fans remain unconvinced of his ability to produce the goods for the Red Devils on a regular basis...
