Manchester United midfielder Fred has clarified how he sees his role in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team, and what the manager has been telling him behind the scenes.
The Brazilian has reflected on his "best" United season so far in an interview with Global Esporte — one that has seen him become a regular in Solskjaer's side and prompted a recall to his national team.
Fred made 47 United appearances in all competitions across 2020/21 and admitted it's been a tough campaign. He also explained Solskjaer's team-orientated philosophy and his own role to facilitate the more attacking players in front of him.
He said: "This was a very unusual season because of the coronavirus, we had many games in a row, and I did very well this season.
"I managed to have a good streak, I didn't have any injuries. I can say it was a great season in my career.
"I didn't score many goals, sometimes players say: 'it was my best season, I scored so many goals'. I only scored one goal, but my job is totally different, the job that was assigned to me I'm doing, I've been doing very well, it was the best season."
Fred appeared to hit back somewhat at critics of his role at United. The Brazilian's only goal of the campaign came in the 3-1 victory over Tottenham, but he believes he does an important job helping out the likes of Bruno Fernandes and others in the United attack.
"Bruno and I are the ones who run the most on the field, we run a little more," he said. "I saw Fábio [da Silva]'s praise and I was very happy, it's always good to hear, that's a reason to keep working, to make the maximum effort in the field.
"Everyone says that the attackers are the ones who appear most on the field, but my role is to support the attack, for them to do a good job, also for the defence, on the ball, I think this work is being done well, I'm very happy with this.
"Solskjaer is a great coach, a great person and he made us understand each other as a group. If you play for the group, the individual will appear. You don't have to be an individualist to appear.
"He showed us that, that's why our season wasn't the best, but it was very good, we understand what it's like to work in a group."
