Manchester United midfielder Fred has slammed the top brass over not having a long-term manager installed.

United – who face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night - appointed Ralf Rangnick as interim boss until the end of the season, after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November.

New chief executive Richard Arnold, who took over from Ed Woodward this month, is the man tasked with appointing United's next boss – the fifth since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

"It's a bit strange," said Fred to TNT 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 [a permanent boss]. 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.

“With all due respect to Villarreal, it was our job to win that Europa League final last season and we failed.

“It's about having better football planning at the club - 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 next season to find our peak football."

Although United have struggled this season and are playing for fourth spot in the Premier League, Fred said they should not rule out an unlikely Champions League triumph.

“I know we're not playing our best football, but we have a lot of quality names in our squad," Fred told TNT Sports Brazil.

“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 will have to work our socks off, because we're far away from being one of the favourites in this competition."