Fabio bids farewell?

Fourth round. Four-goal victory. It all sounds right all of a sudden. Three wins on the bounce and unbeaten in the last six in all competitions. Twitter has surprisingly gone quiet and the infamous #MoyesOut mania is fading away. Good signs. All of this means we have a great many things to worry about in the next few weeks. Keep the ball rolling. 

I’ve always felt we are the most fortunate bunch of all sets of fans. The success, the drama, the quality and sheer passion – we have seen it all in the Fergie era. And I have no doubt we will continue to do so, with our new boss too. Passion. Manchester United has had so many players insanely proud of wearing the shirt, giving it all game in game out for the crest at the front. One such player from that famous clan is the Manchester-born Gary Neville. G-Nev always wore his heart on his sleeve whenever he stepped onto the pitch and one could never forget his celebrations in front of the Kop after John O’Shea’s last-minute winner at Anfield.

If there are two players that really love playing for Manchester United as much as Gary did, then it could be none other than the Da Silva brothers. Yes, our very own Rafael and Fabio. One’s been getting the regular game time the other is craving for and has almost made the coveted right back position his own. Fabio enjoyed a cameo appearance against Norwich on Tuesday night, coming on as a late substitute, scored the fourth and final goal, to everyone’s surprise and, of course, delight. Fabio’s goal was quite brilliant – arguably the best of the night (Sorry Phil..) – but the celebration that followed the goal is what worries me a bit. He didn’t really celebrate it in fact. He kind of waved at the Stretford End, looked like he thanked them for all the memories and realised it was his time to leave. Post game, Fabio posted a picture on his Instagram account with the lines – “Thank you for the fans! This club change my life and life of my family.”

Well. What do we make of it? A few weeks back, Fabio stated his desire to play for Brazil in the World cup, a dream which looks farfetched, to say the least. Then again, he needs to prove himself with his club and show the Brazil staff what he’s got, to even get on their radar. Going by the current scenario that looks pretty unlikely for him, considering both Patrice Evra and Alexander Buttner are ahead of him in the pecking order.

I just hope Fabio gets a bit more playing time than what he’s getting at the moment because these brothers are special people, to me. Having been with the club since 15, having snubbed Arsenal in the process, these guys more than just epitomise the club and its never-say-die spirit. Having had two brothers, Gary and Phil Neville, occupying both full-back positions before and with Patrice Evra’s career coming to an end, there is no reason why Rafael and Fabio cannot become our next set of marauding full-backs, if Fabio is given more opportunities to prove himself.

Fabio’s highest point, as far as I could recall is getting his name on the starting XI in the Champions League final in 2011. I’d love him to stay at the club, show some more patience, which he has shown already, and perform when he gets the nod. Because these twins have always been together and nobody would want that bond to get disrupted for all we know.

Aashish. (@ginger_prince28 on twitter.)