Fabio Santos: We Misjudged Him

By: Inara | October 25th, 2007

Time for another player profile! Today, we’ll be looking at Fabio Santos, author of three terrific back-to-back substitute appearances and Lyon’s newly discovered secret weapon.

When Alou Diarra pulled his hamstring last January, Lyon - in a seemingly constant injury crisis - had only a few days to recruit cover before the transfer window closed. Jeremy Toulalan was being overplayed and was in danger of suspension, so the need for a DM was paramount.

Names like Aldo Duscher and Jeremy Clement were thrown about, but out of nowhere, the club announced that they had signed Fabio Santos from Cruziero. Most of us on this side of the Atlantic said, “Who?” But Bernard Lacombe and Marcelo, Lyon’s Brazilian scout, recommended him highly, and they’ve rarely been wrong before.

Besides a very short and unsuccessful stint at Portuguese club Madeira in 2004, Fabio Santos spent the entirety of his career in Brazil, though by the time Lyon arrived on the scene, he was at Cruzeiro, a club that in the past has also given us Cris and Fred.

So it was that Lyon added another Brazilian to their ranks. Unfortunately, his first few displays with Lyon were tepid at best, and he eventually found himself either benched or sent to play with the reserves. Considered to be slow and too error prone, people began to wonder if his arrival was a mistake.

When he signed up, he wasn’t expecting to be ignored by his own coach.

Unhappy with his eight appearances (four starts), he thought about leaving. But despite an attractive offer from Sao Paulo in the summer, he kept working hard and remained patient. Buoyed by the change in management and by the fact that the club did not bring in another defensive midfielder in the summer, he decided to give Lyon another chance.

At first it looked like Alain Perrin was no different than Houllier. Fabio Santos was hardly played at the beginning of the season, and it looked like his career at Lyon was over before it had even begun. But thanks to Toulalan’s amazing ability to accumulate yellow cards and pick up untimely injuries, Fabio Santos is slowly proving his critics wrong with great displays against Lens, Bordeaux, Monaco, and Stuttgart (his CL debut), as well as scoring against Lens and Stuttgart.

He’s proving that he belongs at Lyon.

It’s like Lyon discovered they had a secret weapon right under their very own noses, and suddenly, what was already a rich midfield has become downright luxurious. This is not to say that Fabio Santos is as good as Toulalan, and I don’t want to seem like I’m jumping on the bandwagon, but he’s proving to be very acceptable cover, and more importantly, he offers different qualities on the field, especially his mental strength.

Most other players in his situation would have given up, but he kept fighting. After Lyon’s win at Stuttgart, Perrin acknowledged that it was Fabio Santos’s rage that powered his surprisingly good performances. Even Karim Benzema, the star of the night, acknowledged that Lyon won the midfield battle thanks in large part to Fabio Santos’s contributions.

As for Fabio Santos, he didn’t say much, just that he was pleased with Lyon’s team spirit in a difficult situation.

“You know, it hasn’t been easy for me during the many weeks when I didn’t play. So for the moment, I would rather play than talk. The goals I scored against Lens and Stuttgart don’t mean anything yet. I’m in good form and am just trying to take advantage. I hung on in my mind by working.”

People in Lyon refer to Toulalan as a terrier; Fabio Santos is surely the bulldog at his side. There is no reason to think that these two players can’t play together either - at Nantes, Toulalan was an offensive midfielder and so might relish the prospect at leaving the bulk of defensive duties to Fabio Santos.

He’s all smiles at the moment.

Perrin has a huge selection headache in his hands now - with a three man midfield, he must somehow appease five players who deserve a spot in the starting 11: Juninho, Kim Kallstrom, Jeremy Toulalan, Mathieu Bodmer…and now Fabio Santos. But this is a dilemma that most coaches would love to have, and it is now up to Perrin to find the best possible combination.

His two goals so far:

Interesting facts:

- The first time Fabio Santos came under OL’s radar was when Bernard Lacombe went to scout Marcelo at Sao Caetano (now at Real Madrid).

- He was Cruzeiro’s captain, which was another reason why he found his situation so difficult to stomach.

- During his initial press conference which presented him to the public, Gerard Houllier made a point of stating that Jeremy Clement had been his first choice. How rude!

- At that same press conference, Bernard Lacombe said that Fabio Santos reminded him of former OL player and manager Jean Tigana.

- Though a part of the Brazilian clique at OL, he is particularly close to Cris and…Anthony Reveillere!

- Of all of us here on this Lyon blog who post regularly, only Jo believed in Fabio Santos’s abilities.

Other profiles: Hatem Ben Arfa, Fred, Cris, Kim Kallstrom, Jeremy Toulalan,
Karim Benzema