A ridiculously talented XI of players that Fabinho left out of his best team-mates XI: Mane, Mbappe..
Fabinho has played with plenty of world-class players over the years and he was forced to snub some huge names when recently naming his best team-mates XI.
Having played for the likes of Real Madrid, Monaco, Liverpool and now Al-Ittihad, the Brazilian has played with plenty of high-profile stars over the years.
During an interview with OneFootball, Fabinho picked the following XI of team-mates: Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago Silva, Andy Robertson, himself, Bernardo Silva, Jordan Henderson, Neymar, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
We’ve taken a closer look at Fabinho’s career and have compiled an XI of former team-mates that he snubbed in his starting 11.
GK: Danijel Subasic
Throughout his entire career, Fabinho has played more minutes alongside Subasic (16,548) than he has with any other player.
While we can hardly begrudge his pick of Alisson, Subasic often went under the radar during his career and was a vastly underrated keeper during his eight-year stint with Monaco.
Other goalkeepers that Fabinho omitted from his XI include Ederson, Sergio Romero, and Diego Lopez.
RB: Dani Alves
Having played alongside Alexander-Arnold and Alves, Fabinho has been fortunate enough to play alongside two of the best attacking full-backs of the modern generation.
Picking Alexander-Arnold was understandable given the bond they shared at Liverpool, but a player like Alves is always tough to overlook.
While on international duty, Fabinho played five games alongside Alves during the backend of the full-back’s career.
CB: Marquinhos
While on international duty, Fabinho has played more games alongside Marquinhos than with any other player. Of his 29 caps for Brazil, Marquinhos featured in 23 of those games.
The PSG star doesn’t always get his flowers, but he’s undoubtedly one of the best defenders of the modern generation and he’s still going strong today.
CB: Joel Matip
While Van Dijk gets most of the plaudits for Liverpool’s tremendous defensive record under Jurgen Klopp, Matip was also a force to be reckoned with in his prime.
In total, the Cameroon international played 100 games alongside Fabinho at Liverpool, but that wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the team-mates XI.
LB: Marcelo
Given that Fabinho only ever played one game alongside Marcelo at international level, it makes complete sense that he chose Robertson as his preferred left-back.
The Brazilian midfielder also got the chance to play alongside Eric Abidal during his stint with Monaco too.
CM: N’Golo Kante
Prior to playing with Kante at Al-Ittihad, Fabinho had always been very complimentary of the French midfielder.
“There are two players that I really like watching play, Busquets and Kante”, Fabinho told LFC TV in 2019.
“They represent a mix of the qualities I admire. Busquets has the technical ability with the ball and Kante is about strength, energy and intensity. I believe they are the best players in this position today.”
Fast forward to 2024 and the pair are now playing alongside each other in the Saudi Pro League.
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CM: Thiago Alcantara
While both Fabinho and Thiago had their fair share of injuries during their time at Anfield, Liverpool boasted an exceptional record when both players started alongside one another.
During their first two seasons together at Anfield, Liverpool boasted an 88% win rate when both players started alongside one another which isn’t a record to be sniffed at.
CM: James Rodriguez
During the 2013-14 campaign, Fabinho played 26 games alongside Rodriguez who stole the show for Monaco that year.
The Colombian playmaker produced 24 goal contributions from midfield and following some exceptional displays at the 2014 World Cup, he earned his blockbuster move to Real Madrid.
RW: Sadio Mane
In order to squeeze Mane into this XI, we’ve had to shift him out of his preferred position and onto the right-hand side.
Of all the Liverpool teammates that Fabinho snubbed, Mane is undoubtedly the biggest name. Despite including Salah and Firmino in his XI, he couldn’t find a spot for Mane.
The pair played 148 games alongside one another and won practically every trophy on offer during their stint at Anfield.
ST: Kylian Mbappe
While Fabinho perhaps didn’t play alongside the peak version of Mbappe that we know today, he did play alongside the French superstar during his early eye-catching years with Monaco.
The pair won the Ligue 1 title alongside each other in 2016-17 and no doubt shared some fond memories together.
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LW: Cristiano Ronaldo
Alright, given they only spent 14 minutes playing alongside one another at Real Madrid, it didn’t come as much of a surprise that Fabinho omitted CR7 from his XI.
However, the two of them were technically team-mates in 2013, albeit for an incredibly short period.
During the one game that they played alongside each other, Real Madrid beat Malaga 6-2 and Ronaldo chipped in with a goal and two assists on the day.