Is there any height over there at Sociedad ? Seriously, I hope he starts too. Smalling & Jones on the right are a pain to watch. Valencia can do a job there mind.
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hope this means Fabio is still in Moyes plans.
He could, but he's also had three or four consecutive good matches, so he deserves to play in his favoured position. That said, I think Fabio and Nani could prove a very good partnership as I think Fabio is very intelligent in attack.
Btw, how often has Lahm been sacrificed in defence for a lack of height? Or Jordi Alba and so on. I'm not arguing that Fabio is in that class, but height for a fullback is a lame excuse for me. I haven't heard about using tall wingers to improve our chances at set pieces.
Well Moyes did that against Stoke (Smalling for Rafael) and used the same excuse. I find it a bit stupid too.
The height of the opposition shouldn't be too much of a consideration for Moyes. Rafa's only small but he's done brilliantly for us as RB and Hernandez is only small but he can jump higher than most defenders. As long as he gives some height to the CBs and leaves Smalling on the bench we should be ok.
I agree with this 100%. Gary Neville was our best right back in the Premier League era, and he wasn't sacrificed for height reasons and played there at a time when alot of Premier League teams used big center forwards. Neville is only an inch or two taller than Rafael and Fabio, but the twins, particularly Rafael's, leaping ability would compensate for the height difference.
Injured, or am I baffled?
A fecking joke.
He's off
Genuinely don't understand it. Massive, massive shame to lose him for various reasons.
1) He could be an excellent, versatile player.
2) The morale of his brother.
3) Seems like a top lad.
4) We'd have spare parts for Rafael.
1) He could be an excellent, versatile player.
2) The morale of his brother.
3) Seems like a top lad.
4) We'd have spare parts for Rafael.
He's off IMO.
I wish him all the best. Really had high hopes for him, I hope the club does the right thing by him and offers him the chance to leave in January.
Really don't understand this. Surely Fabio deserves to at least get a look in on the bench against a second-rate Sociedad side? His lack of playing time is baffling. Every single outing that we've seen of him, he puts in at least a 6.5 shift for us. And he can't even get a spot on the bench?
Baffling to say the least.
Moyes must be soft in the head.
Fabio seems to have been turned into a martyr on here.
At least, playing the likes of Stoke, you'd be able to make up some semblance of an excuse to play Smalling ahead of him.
Tonight I simply don't, unless he's pencilled in to play Arsenal, in which case he'd surely need the minutes today.. No I don't get it.
Tonight I simply don't, unless he's pencilled in to play Arsenal, in which case he'd surely need the minutes today.. No I don't get it.
Get over it, Fergie wasn't always a fan either. He did have a spell in the side including the CL final. But only because Rafael was injured. After that Fergie often preferred others at right back and then sent him on loan.
I like fabio, but I am going to guess that the fact Fergie, Redknapp and now Moyes haven't always or ever trusted him there might be a reason.
I like fabio, but I am going to guess that the fact Fergie, Redknapp and now Moyes haven't always or ever trusted him there might be a reason.
Some news is better than no news. With guys like Zaha, Kagawa and Hernandez, at least Moyes and come out and addressed their status in the squad. With Fabio there's simply just radio silence. Some reporter needs to start bugging him about Fabio. Moyes is obviously not going to give a straight answer even if he's been absolute shite in training, but at least a response along the likes of how Smalling offers more defensive solidity would be better than just giving no news of Fabio.
I can't see him starting for the first team again after getting two minutes against Norwich and not even making the bench since. It'll be the reserves until the transfer window opens I think.
Which is mind-boggling. We all know Rafael is good and we love him at RB. We could've had 2 of him. But Moyes chooses to play another CB at RB again. Compounding that, Valencia's been tucking so far deep infield that more often than not in the first half, Smalling had the entire right flank to himself. Kudos to him for trying to bring the ball up and swing crosses in but evidently it's not something he's the best at. Put a capable dribbler there in the mould of Rafael/Fabio and we'd probably have created more than we did.
Seems like such a shame to me, I wish we'd give him a real chance.
If I was him, I'd be looking for a move, he needs football!
If I was him, I'd be looking for a move, he needs football!
Maybe he's just not very good in training? He's an intelligent player but maybe Moyes likes the aggression of Rafael and thinks Fabio just doesn't have the same character
Can't understand why this is happening. He featured heavily in pre-season when he played good but now he seems to be completely out of Moyes plans. Shame really, considering that he is very talented and could become a great player for us. Wish him all the best though and now I hope he leaves. It doesn't make sense in any way you want to consider to waste his talent.
I suppose something like that is very likely, it has to be something. It makes it all the more curious when he's really the only other true right back in the squad beside his brother. That he can't get a start ahead of Buttner, Jones or Smalling at either fullback position is wild.
I have come to the conclusion that he has asked away and the club has agreed to let him go. It's the only reasonable explanation.
Then why was he not let go in the summer when we were trying to offload Buttner? None of this makes any sense.
Well the Turkish press pretty much had Buttner to Besiktas as confirmed during the summer, I reckon we were waiting to see what happened with Baines before letting Buttner leave.
It's annoying. We had virtually no threat down the right side today. Sociedad offered very little going forward and Fabio would have given us another dimension in attack.
Is this all down to the fact that he hasnt signed a new contract?
Well he might not have asked then, he might be wanting the move now that he sees he is down the pecking order
I suppose that based on what we've seen so far, Moyes likes his full backs (more so on the left) to overlap and whip crosses in, which means he probably prefers a natural left footer. That's the only thing I can think of.
I'm a amazed that a player that started a CL final barely 2 years ago cannot find a spot ahead of centre-backs in the right back position. I agree there must be a lot more going on behind the scenes.
Didn't even make then bench. Can't see much hope for him at United at the moment. Baffles me that Buttner gets picked over him, I can sort of understand the CB over him at times, but even that is pushing it.
Maybe Moyes is drunk and thinks he is seeing two of Rafael. It's just mentsl.
That still wouldn't explain playing Chris Smalling at right back.
In fact, very few things would explain playing Chris Smalling at right back besides the unavailability of about 12 other players.
It is a strange one. And typical shit journalism, not one reporter asks him about it. They'd rather ask how Wayne Rooney is feeling.
Or maybe Moyes just have had a talk with Fabio who might have stated that he will look to leave the club when his contract is up after this season, and so decided that he would rather use the game time on someone who is gonna be here in the long-term. It's not necessarily Fabio who is rated under Smalling, it could be a contract issue.
I do hope Fabio gets a new contract and is put as second choice both on the left back and on the right back so he can be given a proper chance to cement a place in the team.
I do hope Fabio gets a new contract and is put as second choice both on the left back and on the right back so he can be given a proper chance to cement a place in the team.
Yeah this is starting to piss me off actually. Not just re Fabio either, but they only seem to bother pushing the agenda of English players. I don't want to derail the thread too much but some of the Joe Hart shit I'm seeing written/discussed is pathetic too. They're suggesting he's being done some massive injustice/being mismanaged because he's been dropped despite the fact that he's made lots of howlers and they're been overlooked for ages. Were these journos arguing that Fergie shouldn't have dropped De Gea or were they all pushing the "flaps at crosses", "error prone" line because it suited and he wasn't English?
They moaned that they need to build a good relationship with managers and curse that Fergie didn't facilitate that. He was source of lots of their material of course, but they don't give a shit about what the fans/readers actually want to read/know about. Every press conference since the start of preseason it's been the same questions about Rooney. I'd love to hear about Moyes' opinion on Fabio, does he have a future here? Will Zaha go out on loan in January? How does he think Cleverley is getting on? Enough about the strike partnership what about the midfield? What does he think Fellaini's struggles have been so far? I could continue.
Anyway, rant over. Someone mentioned it earlier and it's a good point, Fabio featured pretty frequently in preseason and since then he's barely been used, and it's weird because I think he played well. I also distinctly remember him whipping some left footed crosses in when he played at left back so it's not as if he is unable to do that.
I've said numerous times he should be played when Rafael is out (rested or injured) and used to rest Evra. He'd get several games and Evra wouldn't look on his last legs at times. No way should he be behind Büttner on the left or Smalling/Jones at RB. I really don't want him to leave but it seems inevitable as it seems Moyes isn't keen at all when all he is getting is 5 minute runouts, on the wing, deep into injury time, in the league cup against an under strength, unambitious, Norwich City side.
But then again Fabio probably wouldn't want to leave if he were used in games like yesterday and would be happy to sign a new contract?
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