Over the course of the 2022/23 season, it became a somewhat reoccurring theme for Liverpool and their players to see flittering moments of promise swiftly followed by hard-hitting reality checks.
That statement is perhaps no more appropriate for Fabinho, who has, by his own impeccable standards, endured a tumultuous season on Merseyside as Liverpool suffered a harrowing follow-up campaign to their 63-game quadruple chase last term.
Yet despite his late-season upturn in fortunes, which coincided with Trent Alexander-Arnold's move into a hybrid-full-back-midfield role as the Reds embarked on an 11-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, the 29-year-old has once again been snubbed by Brazil for their upcoming friendlies against Guinea and Senegal.
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In failing to appoint a successor for the long-serving Tite, who left his position as manager after Brazi's shock last-16 World Cup exit at the hands of Croatia back in December, acting head coach Ramon Menezes was tasked with selecting the squad for the forthcoming double-header with the help of the national team's physiologist and performance analysts.
Out of the selected 23, Menezes named five midfielders as Premier League quartet Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes joined Newcastle United's Joelinton, who received his first call-up for the Selecao. The final position was filled by 21-year-old Andre Trindade da Costa Neto who plays for Fluminense in the top-flight of his homeland.
In truth, Fabinho's absence won't come as much of a surprise to anyone at Anfield, and certainly not to the player himself who while playing an instrumental role as Liverpool swept the continent clean of every top-level trophy available between 2019 and 2022 was only capped 21 times by his country. In fact, from a possible 34 matches during that three-year period as Brazil contested in two Copa America campaigns, a World Cup and a host of run-of-the-mill qualifying matches, he was awarded a starting berth on just 10 occasions.
On the contrary, Joelinton, who appears to have leapfrogged the Reds midfielder in the national team pecking order after a stellar 18 months at St James' Park following his redeployment as a central midfielder under Toon boss Eddie Howe, was one of four players to be called up to Selecao for the first time.
“The debuts are explained by what these players are doing in their clubs, showing conditions to wear the shirt of the Selection," said Menezes, discussing his selections at a press conference over the weekend. "Now, we call two for each position, with the exception of the goalkeepers."
For Fabinho, his ongoing struggles can be dated back to the penultimate weeks of the Reds' quadruple chase in May 2022 as he was withdrawn in the early stages of the Premier League trip to Aston Villa after suffering what was later diagnosed as a hamstring issue. The Brazilian would miss league outings against Southampton and Wolves, and the FA Cup final against Chelsea as Naby Keita instead lined up alongside Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson.
But just days after sitting out of the 120-minute affair in the capital as the Reds' edged Chelsea in the second domestic cup final of the season and claimed an eighth FA Cup thanks to the heroics of Alisson Becker and Kostas Tsimikas in a nail-biting penalty shootout, Fabinhio would declare himself fit for the forthcoming Champions League final by telling reporters huddled at the club's AXA Training Centre: “All [is] good. I’ll be ready."
However, after announcing his return with a lethargic showing at the Stade de France as Liverpool slumped to an energy-zapping defeat to Real Madrid in Europe's showpiece finale 12 months ago, it has since been an uphill battle to show his worth at Anfield.
Starting the season as Klopp's only recognisable natural defensive midfielder, it is perhaps both unsurprising and self-inflicted that the Brazilian's woes have cost Liverpool so dearly this season and ultimately lead to failure to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in Klopp's seven full seasons at the club. It's a blow that will be heavily felt in the Anfield coffers as the Reds miss out on the lucrative riches that come as a result of rubbering shoulders with Europe's elite - which has become all too familiar since their return to the group stages in August 2017.
But in more recent times, sluggish performances from the Brazilian on the road become an almost weekly happening as Liverpool slouched to defeats at Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth. At the turn of the year, such form had provided more questions than answers when it came to debating the midfielder's long-term future at Anfield ahead of a significant summer shake-up.
Such was the nature of the struggles that 18-year-old rookie Stefan Bajcetic was able to dislodge the Brazilian in the early weeks of 2023 after an impressive opening half of the season training under the nose of Klopp saw the youngster rewarded with a full-time promotion.
But fast forward just three months, and it will be Arsenal's Easter visit to Anfield that proved to be the resurrection the Brazilian needed as he was situated alongside Alexander-Arnold in a new-look two-man midfield pivot. After a season of challenge on Merseyside too, the West Derby star was re-galvanised by a change just days before the Gunners' title hopes came crashing down on Merseyside.
Since a problematic opening half-hour at Anfield in which Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus fired the then-Premier League leaders ahead, Fabinho and Alexander-Arnold have formed one of the division's most balanced partnerships and conceded just eight goals in as many games prior to Sunday's end-of-season lumbering at St Mary's.
In what has been viewed as a masterstroke tactical tweak by Klopp, the effectiveness of Fabinho's spatial awareness has been sweetened by the athleticism that Alexander-Arnold has brought to the centre of the park. It is, of course, still early days and despite the late-season revival, which has gone some way to restoring the feel-good factor at Anfield ahead of the new campaign, it does not mask the midfield in-tray the club's newly-appointed sporting director Jorg Schmadtke will be required to tackle head-on in the coming months.
On the international front, though, with the star quality of five-time Champions League winner Casemiro on display almost weekly at Old Trafford and the emergence of Bruno Guimaraes further north, Fabinho faces a tough battle to regain his place in the Brazil squad ahead of next summer's Copa America.
But after 148 appearances for the Reds since football's resumption after lockdown in July 2020, if Liverpool hold any hope of getting the best out of their defensive patroller once again, perhaps his latest snub on the international stage isn't all bad news.
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