Why Man Utd star Fred loses so much weight during games & how Brazil have to manage him

• Midfielder is full of running
• Can shed three kilos per outing
• Has to recover properly afterwards

WHAT HAPPENED? The energetic 29-year-old is currently on World Cup duty with his country and is having to cope with sweltering conditions in Qatar. Fred is still proving to be full of running, as is often the case at club level, with Tite’s backroom team having to keep a close eye on him as he has been losing around three kilos per outing in the Middle East.

WHAT THEY SAID: Brazil fitness instructor Fabio Fabio Mahseradjian has said: “Fred is a very mobile and typically endurance athlete. He’s not as fast as [Gabriel] Martinelli or Rodrygo. He’s not a strength athlete like Richarlison. They are individual characteristics of others, but he has his own, which is very mobile and of high resistance. We pay a lot of attention to Fred regarding his recovery. Because he loses a lot of weight during the game precisely because of this great work rate. He is one of the main athletes that we have to rehydrate a lot after the game, increase the carbohydrate intake a lot to be able to recover well for the next match.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Fred has figured in both of Brazil’s outings at Qatar 2022 so far, with 15 minutes seen off the bench in an opening 2-0 victory over Serbia before being included from the start in a narrow 1-0 win against Switzerland.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Pre-tournament favourites Brazil are already through to the last-16, where they will face the runners-up from Group H, but have one more outing in Group G to take in against Cameroon on Friday.