Manchester United midfielder Fred has made it clear that he wants to play in a more advanced position.
Fred put in what he described as one of his 'best' performances for the Brazilian national team as he played a crucial role in the Selecao's 4-1 victory over Uruguay.
Instead of playing in the usual defensive-midfield role he is deployed in at United, the 28-year-old was instead paired with Liverpool's Fabinho who sat back and afforded him the freedom to advance up the pitch.
It produced great results as it was Fred who set up the opening goal after just eight minutes with a wonderfully clipped pass over the defence for Neymar to latch on to, round the goalkeeper and slam home.
That was just the start of an excellent display in which he also registered a 93 per cent passing accuracy, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, won 62 per cent of his duels and made two interceptions.
After playing so well with the license to go forward for his country, Fred has made it clear that it's where he'd like to play for his club as well.
“We talk a lot about this role of second defensive midfielder. In Europe, you say it’s a box-to-box," he told UOL.
"You participate in the ball getting out and are able to participate more in the attack. If you lose the ball at the front, you’re already there to challenge for the ball. I really like to play like this. I prefer it, my ideal position is to get more involved in the attack.”
The 4-1 victory over Edinson Cavani's Uruguay - with goals also coming from Leeds United's Raphina, Gabriel Barbosa and Luis Suarez - has seen Brazil take a step closer to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
Fred was delighted with his own performance and with the rest of his teammates.
"Very happy for the victory, a great game," he added. "It was one of the best matches I played for the national team, participating a little more in the attack.
“When it comes to defending, don’t lose the ball, and press, defending well. It was a great game for everyone. I’m very happy.”
As the match was played in the early hours of Friday morning in GMT, Fred and Cavani won't likely be available for Saturday's game against Leicester City.
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