Manchester United have had some quality left backs during my time as a fan. From my earliest memories of Lee Martin controlling a long diagonal cross field ball on his chest and lashing past Nigel Martyn in the Crystal Palace goal, to ensure United lifted the FA cup in 1990, to the likes of Patrice Evra, Denis Irwin and Luke Shaw.
This is my worst XI, so there will be no reminiscing here of good times gone by. The occupant of the number three shirt for this team will be the Fabio.
The twin of the swashbuckling right back Rafael, Fabio would play second fiddle, flitting between the right and left full back. Now his record speaks for itself in the fact that he was part of a team that won the Premier League title in 2010.
The Brazilian brothers were brought over in the winter of 2007 to add competition for places to the ever green Gary Neville and Patrice Evra. Where Rafael shone and went on to become a bit of a cult hero, his squaring up to a number of Liverpool players during a heated match at Anfield, Fabio was a bit more shy and retiring.
The Brazilian would struggle to only play 22 times for the Red Devil’s as injury and a lack of form, would curtail his United career, despite starting in the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in 2011.
Sir Alex Ferguson would send Fabio on loan in what was to be his final season in 2012, thus meaning one of the twins would be missing out on the gaffers swan song. A spell at QPR, Cardiff and then Middlesborough, would see the end of the Premier League adventure in 2017.
With left backs being a strong position over the last 30 years, picking my worst was tough. Unfortunately for Fabio, he got the nod.
Recap:
Gk – Taibi
Rb – Young
Lb – Fabio
Ole’s at the wheel