Dani Alves calls Alan Shearer 'idiotic' after BBC pundit says Brazil should drop misfiring centre forward Fred

Brazilian right back Dani Alves has hit out at Alan Shearer - calling the BBC pundit's comments about the World Cup hosts' striker Fred: 'idiotic'.

Former England striker Shearer told ESPN last week that Brazil first choice centre forward was slow, cannot shoot and should be replaced in the Selecao XI.

Despite having a good scoring record for Brazil over the last year, Fluminense forward Fred is not known for his mobility and drew a blank in Brazil's first two games, a 3-1 win over Croatia and a 0-0 draw with Mexico.

Together: Alves (middle) has given his backing to Fred (right) after criticism of the striker by Alan Shearer

'Idiotic': Alves took offence to Shearer's comments about his international team-mate

FRED'S BRAZIL RECORD

International Caps: 35
International Goals: 17
At this World Cup:
Appearances: 2
Goals: 0
Shots/On Target: 1/1
Fouls won: 3

'I just don't understand why Brazil are still picking him,' Shearer said. 'He doesn't move, he doesn't shoot and he's dragging the team down.

'I don't know if Brazil should change the system or play Neymar as a false nine, but the fact is that Fred is not the answer for what they are doing now.'

And Shearer's comments appear to have riled the Brazil squad with Alves hitting back in support of his international team-mate on Saturday, saying a former professional should know better than to criticise.

'Those comments are some of the most idiotic that anyone can ever say,' Alves told reporters at Brazil's base camp just outside Rio de Janeiro.

'Someone who played football, who knows how difficult it is to be a football player, how difficult it is to beat opponents, compete, score goals - it's a shame for football and a lack of respect for his colleagues that play the game. It's something to be ashamed of.'

 

Luiz, Alves, Marcelo and Bernard take selfies with fans

Misfiring: Fred had a good Confederations Cup but has struggled to light up the World Cup

Frustration: Fred is yet to score in this summer's tournament and has only had one shot on goal over two games

Struggle: Brazil's number nine has the tough task of leading the line for the under-pressure host nation

Brazil sit top of Group A ahead of their final group game against Cameroon, with the team that tops the group to face either Chile or the Netherlands in the last 16.

The Selecao have been criticised in the media for their lacklustre performances so far - they required a soft penalty to give them the lead against Croatia - and Alves expressed concern at what he said might be unreal expectations.

'Fans want to the team to win, scoring five, 10 goals so when we don't manage that they read things very differently from us, because they act with emotion and we act with a bit more criteria.

'We think that our fans have created a huge amount of expectation in the team and we are clearly working to provide answers to those expectations.

'People are normally very pessimistic and they're tremendously negative, but we need to stay faithful and defend the work we're doing, which I think is very well done.'

 

Dani Alves and Dante lead Brazil band during team flight

Different: Shearer touted using Neymar as a false nine rather than starting Fred up front

Respected: Shearer is a staple of the BBC's punditry, seen here with Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry