Fabio Da Silva

evra

I can only echo this, Fabio has obviously been told to get forward whenever possible and that would have been a good time to launch an attack had Carrick not fallen asleep at the wheel.

MikeUpNorth

I love the kid, but it has to be said his defensive positioning right now is poor. Caught out of position several times and played runners onside. It'll get better with games.

olesmyhero

Completed another 90 minutes. What's that, 3 games now? That's not a sly dig by the way.

westlife4ever

Very impressive today. Superb first half, definitely not to blame for Carrick's fault. Got tired in the last 15 minutes, which led to some careless passing. But overally a good game under his belt.

And most importantly, he is staying away from injury and getting much more involved. Keep doing this then we will see him mature like his twin brother did.

nyrfan818

Made a couple of questionable decisions towards the end of the match, but that's something he'll cut out of his game soon enough. Don't know if it was tiredness that brought it about in all honesty. I thought those were the passes of someone who was nervous.

Overall, definitely a good performance though. Very excited about him, provided he stays healthy.

Raven Blade

He did well. We didn't miss Evra that much thanks to the way he played.

Like others have said it wasn't his fault for the goal. He was already making himself available on the left wing when Carrick lost the ball. But otherwise his defending was pretty good. He liked to mark opponents tightly and snap at them until he wins the ball back. It's effective in it's own way. His positioning still needs some work though. He definitely looks happier when he's attacking and he is a good provider from the flanks.

jgraham

He looks just like his brother did about 12 months ago, and his brother has only improved and reached the level he has with game time. I've no doubt Fabio would be just as good as rafael if he had the chance to put a prolonged run of games together. However he's got much more in the way of competition in his way!

scholesy legend

To be fair, Fabio had more potential than Rafael when they first arrived. It is just, in a way unfortunate, for Fabio that Evra is such a good player for us, whereas Brown, Oshea and Neville were interchangingly either injured or out of form.

Tumbling-Dice

Just me who's been very underwhelmed by him then ?

Not a patch on his brother imo.

The_Midfielder

Why doesnt he put in the same muscles as his brother? He needs to bulk up..

jgraham

I wouldn't say underwhelmed TD, I just don't think he's had the chance yet to develop his game in the way his brother has.

Rafael looks to be physically better developed too, I'm still expectant.

R_Kelly

This is it in a nutshell. The main difference between the twins is experience (and the wedding ring of course). Fabio is up against one of the top two LB's in the world though so unfortunately for him he's going to struggle for a run.

The_Midfielder

He has a better cross than his brother.... but he is not that adventurous as his brother...

Tumbling-Dice

Defo had his injury problems which will have hampered his progress. I'm wondering if this could be another Nevilles scenario whereby Rafael does the Gary role (Rafael is now first choice RB for me) and Fabio turns into a handy Phil Neville type who impresses relatively rarely but when he does he plays a blinder.

Tumbling-Dice

He's also right footed.

acnumber9

The goal may not have been his fault but he made little or no effort to track the runner. Not good defending at all.

Randall Flagg

Me too, I do think there was a point to be questioned over the goal. Never saw his man at all. Then a couple of times in the 2nd half he made some silly mistakes. But injuries and Evra have stunted his development. Still believe he has huge potential

jb8521

Im sticking with my theory that Fabio probably looked better in underage football because he likes to dribble more and tends to look more elegant on the ball and could go inside or outside because he was playing from the left but in underage football the space he tends to leave wont have been exploited by young players but Rafael was probably always more solid defensively but not that good defensively that it would really stand out in underage football. Rafael seems to have more desire and determination and is more aggressive which is probably why hes stood out more for the first team although obviously if Fabio can continue to stay clear of injury and keep getting first team football he has the potential to be exceptional.

711

The theory that Fabio has been held back by Evra's brilliance instead of his own injuries would make sense if he had spent dozens of matches sat on the bench.

He hasn't.

Yes, Fabio will find it much harder to become a regular than Raphael in the future, but that's not the same thing.

golden_blunder

I was thinking that when i watched the match earlier. He's making the same kind of mistakes that Raphael was making when he first came on the scene. But, as we've seen with Raphael, the more games he gets, the more he learns

Snow

No no. They both have one.

AttackingFlair

Am I the only one who wouldn't mind seeing him on the left wing sometime? Can use either foot, decent dribbling, decent cross.

puNANI

The difference between the brothers shows how much game time can develop a player. Fabio was meant to be the more talented one as well. This isn't a dig at Fabio, but Rafael is all class right now.

cj4_elmo

He'll reach the standard good enough to play for Brazil first team eventually. Whether he gets the chance to do that with us is a different story.

It's a no-win situation for him really, he needs playing time and his injuries are the sort that will go away if he can get an extended playing time which we cannot afford to give him.

LLMU

Mentally i would say Rafael is tougher too .. looking at the way he stared down Tevez

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

I insist. He is superior to his brother. One he gets similar experience it will be apparently clear.

MadDogg

This.

Fabio's positioning when Carrick gave the ball away was fine. He was getting into space so that he could help open up the game and help our attack. However, once Carrick gave the ball away Fabio certainly was half-arsed getting back. If he'd sprinted back at full speed he may have made the difference. You could see Carrick expected him to do that as just before the final ball was played Carrick glanced over and saw that completely open man, but didn't have time to get over there himself. That's partly Carrick's fault (on top of it completely being his fault that he gave it away), but also partly Fabio's fault.

However, it's something that Rafa and even Evra often do as well. It's the negative for having such attacking fullbacks, but you'd still expect them to make the effort to get back faster than they sometimes do.

Red_Aaron

it was just like watching young rafa, diving in unneccessarily, getting caught way out of position, half-assed simple balls but also good pace, brave as hell, good going forward

its a simple observation but i cant help it, i've no doubt he'll become as good as his brother with time and Rafa was the 2nd best player on the pitch for me

MadDogg

In all his previous matches Fabio has actually been quite focused on staying back, far more than Rafa did in his early matches. I think this is the first match Fabio has been trying to get forward a lot more like what we expected him to do. He ended up in the penalty area with Berbatov and Rooney in one attack.

The same could be said about Rafa so far this season as well. After his mistake against Bayern last season he seems to be trying to stay back and be a bit more solid, but today he was getting up into more attacking areas like he had been in previous seasons.

cj4_elmo

With Rafael, there was always this fear (for me at least) when he first broke in that the defensive side of his game would not match up to the standards required for us.

Fabio gives me no such worries. He seems more mature in his style of play, if he stays patient enough, he will take over Evra in 2 - 3 seasons. (Disclaimer: assuming he stays fit and gets around 15 - 20 games a season)

mamboza

About the goal, I think Fabio was already 5-6 yards behind when Carrick lost the ball. There was very little chance for him to get back trying to stop it. It is kinda harsh to blame him. Also many times in many matches all our midfielders and CBs get drawn in to the center leaving attackers coming in from wide or from deep run, a free shot at goal. Of course that should be FB's job, but sometimes they get stuck in attacking position. If we already have 3-4 players in the box, at least one should look out for the opponent's attacking support.

kouroux

I wanna believe everything you say as long you're not threatening to use multiquoting to prove it to me

sincher

He did well last night. I think if he had a run of games he would really shine. Good to have cover for Evra.

Longlivekeano

We all forget that the da Silva twins are only 19-20 years old. At what age did the likes of Scholesey, Butt, Neville, Beckkham start for United. Only about 22-23 years of age. Both Fabio and Rafel will need 2-3 more years of experience- where they will undoubtdely make a few mistakes here and there. But I am sure they will develop to become first team United regulars within 3 years time.

Most RedCafe posters seem to compare Rafael (RB) and Fabio da Silva (LB) with what they saw with the great Brazilian fullbacks of the 80s, 90s,2000s such as Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Jorginho, Maicon, Branco... Please do not forget that even these great Brazilian internationals spend many, many years honing their craft to reach their peak as footballers.

Another comparison should be with Cristiano Ronaldo. How different was he at 19 years old (2nd season at United-called showboater, one trick poney) and when he was 23 years old (scoring shitloads of goals, winning World Player of the Year)? Totally different beasts. Give our da Silvas a few years time. If they develop to their maximum potential, we have gems on our hands.

Jaap

Lucky to get away with the foul inside the box in the second half - down to inexperience really, but he'll grow and, given his age, he's certain to develop into a class full-back.

Pogue Mahone

Agreed. I think he's got better with each game played this season.

The whole twin thing is great. Looking at how good Rafael has become means that we can be pretty damn confident that it's only a matter of time before his bro hits the same heights.

Scholesy

Since Fabio has joined us, he has not played alot of football at any level which I think is a problem. He hasn't played a lot either in the first team or the reserves.

kouroux

He will get better that's for sure, he has already a better cross than Evra on his weaker foot (left) never mind the right one.Hopefully no more injuries as he has the potential to easily overtake Evra in terms of being a complete full back

quethenoo

quethenoo

Thats the most important thing for me, you can actually see his progress from game to game, which points to a healthy amount of potential.