Fred on Ten Hag, Sevilla and Europa League ambitions

Life at Manchester United hasn't always been easy for Fred, but the Brazilian has thrived at Old Trafford under Erik ten Hag this season.

Here he takes stock of the Red Devils' improvement in 2022/23, discussing working with the Dutch coach, the mood in the dressing room and United's Spanish-accented UEFA Europa League campaign. Having overcome Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Betis this season, on Thursday the English side host Sevilla.

On Erik ten Hag

He has had a tremendous impact on the dressing room. Prior to his arrival, we were aware of the quality of his work, his time at Ajax and their style of play. Naturally, it takes time to adjust to a new manager, but he's helped us all on the pitch and presented ideas on how to work. He's a great manager and we're very happy to have him here.

Every manager has their ways and their demands, and it's up to us to adapt to their style. It's not easy; it doesn't happen overnight. But gradually we began to understand what he wanted us to follow. Little by little, we adapted and put into practice on the pitch the things he'd asked of us, and this led to improvements with the team.

On the mood in the dressing room 

Last season we weren't getting results on the pitch, and that naturally had a negative impact on the atmosphere in the dressing room. The start of this season was similar. We lost our first couple of Premier League matches, and it brought it all back. But as we started winning the mood lifted. We have also had new players, strong characters. There's definitely a difference in the dressing room.

On United's Spanish-accented Europa League campaign

It all started back against Real Sociedad, a Spanish team who liked to take the game to the opposition. The first game was at home, and we lost: our first and only home loss of the season. We went into the second match against Real Sociedad needing to win by two clear goals to finish top of the group. We ended up winning by a one-goal margin, so ended up second.

That meant we had to face an extra team [in the knockout round play-offs]: Barcelona. A massive tie! We managed a draw at the Camp Nou. In the home leg, we had a poor first half and went into the break trailing to a penalty. In the dressing room we said to ourselves: 'This is our chance! We have to go for it. We want to make this final!' We went out with a different approach. I grabbed the equaliser, Antony got the second and we won the tie. It was a top performance, a great night.

Then we were drawn against another Spanish team, Real Betis. In the first leg we again didn't play well in the first half, we were only drawing 1-1. We ended up having the same discussion in the dressing room: 'We need to win this; keep calm and play some quality football so that we can come out on top.'' We won 4-1, and wrapped it up with a 1-0 victory in the second leg. Now we're looking ahead to another great tie against another Spanish team.

On Sevilla

We know all about Sevilla. They are a great team, one more Spanish team. They'll be difficult to play against, but we're ready. The Europa League is a big competition and everyone in the squad is really keen to win it. We're all pulling in the same direction, aiming for the same objective: reaching the final and winning it. I think we're capable.