It’s safe to say hearing that Fabio Aurelio couldn’t come to an agreement on extending his contract with Liverpool back towards the end of last season disappointed most of us reds fans. The only thing that prevented Fabio from being a key member of the first team squad was his persistent injury problems (unlucky injuries at the time of his previous call ups to the Brazil squad has also prevented him making his first senior appearance). With him being out injured so regularly last season, we got used to him not being around and maybe even began to take his ability for granted.
His departure from the club in May left me feeling gutted because it was one of those situations where you knew the player wasn’t being let go due to lack of ability, similar to when Peter Crouch left for regular first team football in 2008. Fast-forward to last Saturday with the news that Liverpool had re-signed Fabio Aurelio on a two-year contract and I would imagine that the majority of us were happy to have him back. The timing was great too as just a few days earlier we learned that Luke Young’s transfer from Aston Villa had fallen through and it meant that we were heading into the new season still without a first team left back at the club.
Whereas before Fabio was considered our first choice left back ahead of Insua, I think it’s accepted that he’s been signed more as cover this time, with Roy still reportedly on the look out for a new player in this position. I’m sure Fabio won’t mind that though bearing in mind his injury proneness and the majority of fans would agree that being able to call upon a talented player like Fabio Aurelio as your cover left back would be a big boost for squad depth (which was arguably our biggest weakness last season).
During his first year with us he was steady and reliable but wasn’t spectacular, therefore splitting many fans opinions on whether he was a hit or a miss. It wasn’t really until the 08-09 season where we began to see the true quality of Aurelio, with the Brazilian playing an important role in our charge for the title that year. Aurelio’s highlights were obviously his free-kicks in the big games against Man United in the Premiership and Chelsea in the Champions League. Up until that point we had heard how good he was supposed to be at free kick taking and he had notched up quite a few assists but was yet to score any long-range belters from a set-piece. It proved to be worth the wait in the end as he contributed to our biggest Premiership win at Old Trafford with a perfect free kick that left Van Der Sar rooted to the spot.
When asked about his opinions of his teammates last year on liverpoolfc.tv, Pepe Reina’s praise directed at Fabio Aurelio didn’t surprise me in the slightest:
“He’s one of the best players, not just at Liverpool but the entire Premier League. He has been unlucky with injuries but he’s very important for us both defending and attacking. He’s very good at set pieces also.”
I’m looking forward to seeing how Aurelio performs under Roy Hodgson, and with the new team of sports scientists now at the club I’m hopeful that they can keep his injuries down to an absolute minimum. A fully fit Fabio Aurelio is, in my opinion, easily one of the best left backs in the league.
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Welcome back. I was disappointed when RB had to let you leave. But I am glad your back. Show them what you can do. Oh BTW, please stay fit orayt….YNWA
Welcome back Fabio. I hope our new medical team have it right about his state of health.
Let’s see a respectable number of goals from him this season. Something akin to what he managed at Valencia.
What?!?? You kidding me? Is this the “let´s all take the piss” day?
if the new medical team are all they’re cracked up to be and can keep him fit, then GREAT! welcome back fab
yes he is a true footballer but i think we have a problem with sports scientists, roy should put a marker down right now – they advise he picks the team, he must not let them have their way on everything, why are we not playing as many first teamers as possible with only a couple of weeks to go, i can only think he is taking too much notice of these people
can’t defend, no pace nor trickery to be on the left wing, only positive is freekicks and corners. so why he is still here? looks like a desperate measure by hodgson to get in the numbers. never rated him and never will.
Can’t understand people not rating him but can’t believe the new medical people will make to much difference to his injury record. He has a record of being injury prone not over one yearor two but over a decade. I predict he’ll be decent when he plays but he’ll miss a third of the season.