Fabio Aurelio reveals bizarre chat with pastor, who ‘spoke to God’ before full-back re-signed for Liverpool, also makes bold Gerrard/Klopp prediction
Published:
It’s the Merseyside derby at the weekend so we caught up with former Liverpool star Fabio Aurelio for his views on the fortunes of both teams.
Speaking exclusively to Ladbrokes: Fanzone, the Brazilian looks back at his time at Anfield, recalls playing Everton and makes his prediction for Saturday’s match.
Before I re-signed with Liverpool, my pastor told me the club was not finished with me, and that God had showed him I’d be going nowhere
I’m a very religious man and I have faith in Jesus and try to live my life in the best way possible in terms of following Jesus and his instructions. So we used to go to a church back in Liverpool, it was quite a Spanish church, with a lot of South American people there.
We knew the pastor as he was Brazilian, and when my time with the club was up in 2010, we went and told him what was happening. I explained that we’d be leaving the city in search of a new club and a new home. My wife and children were not completely prepared to move away but I was, or at least I understood the situation; it’s part of the life of being a footballer.
But our pastor told me “you are not going anywhere.” He told me he’d been praying, and speaking to God, and God showed him that it was not my time to leave Liverpool yet.
I was so confused by him. It wasn’t possible; my contract had ended and they weren’t renewing it. It was done, I was going. I was happy to let God decide what happened next in my career, knowing that my future was away from Liverpool.
Our pastor just continued to tell me I was going nowhere, and that Liverpool was not finished with me yet. “You may tell me you are leaving Liverpool, but I am telling you: you are not.”
And then things started to progress as I began to look for a new club. I was assessing my options, and then the situation happened with Roy Hodgson where he brought me back into the team.
All of a sudden I started to think back to my conversation with our pastor, and how God had showed him we weren’t prepared to move, and those extra two years with the club were such a blessing. When I finally finished with Liverpool, everyone was happy because we had time to explain things to our children and we were ready to return to Brazil.
I think we can expect to see Gerrard take charge of the team after Jurgen Klopp
I’ve followed Stevie [Gerrard]’s managerial career since he was at Rangers, where he did such an amazing job with that team. He has experience of winning titles and has been in some very good situations, but naturally when you take over a Premier League team, the chances are it’s going to be a lot different, especially somewhere like Aston Villa, where you’re not challenging for titles.
The start of the season hasn’t been good for him or Villa, but I wouldn’t get too carried away with their position in the league at the moment. He’s trying to put his stamp on this team and implement his own plans, but these things take time, and sometimes that’s something you’re not afforded in management.
It’s a really difficult position to be in because you just hope that while you’re going through this transition as a team and as a manager, you hope that you can just get a couple of positive results along the way, but that hasn’t happened for him.
He’s struggling, but I still believe he can play an important role for Aston Villa and I really hope he’s given the time to make things successful.
I hope we see him managing Liverpool one day. He’s the face of the city, he has an amazing story, everyone loves him there. I think that we can expect to see Gerrard take charge of the team after Jurgen Klopp and he can fulfil what I imagine is his dream job.
Hilarious background behind re-signing for Liverpool… weeks after being released
I had a quad injury at the end of my final season with Liverpool, or at least the season when my first contract was up – and that meant I couldn’t play in the last few months, although I was getting back to full fitness at the training ground.
I understood the position with Rafa Benitez and the club, and knew they wouldn’t be renewing my contract in 2010. So at the end of the season I sat down with my agent and spoke to him about my situation and where I might be moving to. There were a couple of options in England, and then we heard that Liverpool’s new manager, Roy Hodgson, was looking for a full-back.
I told my agent to speak with Eduardo [Macia] who was in charge of recruitment at the time. I was fit, I was looking for somewhere to play and I knew they needed a full-back. So I went back for a couple of training sessions, Roy was happy with me and my performances and he decided to give me another two years with the club, which was unbelievable for me.
My family weren’t ready to move out of our home in Liverpool, and my children really didn’t want to leave, so it was perfect for me to return to the club and join up with my old teammates again after a couple of weeks away!
Returning to the team was such a good feeling; it was so nice to be back with my friends and teammates, but more importantly I felt the love from the fans and the people that suffered together with me throughout all of my injury setbacks.
I really hope Everton don’t go down
I really hope Everton don’t go down, if nothing else then for the city of Liverpool. I’ve seen the plans they have for their new stadium and I’m not sure how far into that process they are, but it’s a great opportunity for the city; it wouldn’t be good at all if they went down.
I really wish they can recover from this bad start, but I don’t see them getting too much from the campaign; top 10 is too difficult for them, but I hope they stay in the division.
Merseyside derby memories and prediction
My own memories of the Merseyside derby are centred around two words; expectation and desire. These were personified by the likes of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard in the days leading up to this fixture, there was just a different feel around the place in comparison to usual matchdays, and that showed me just how important the fixture was for the club and for the city.
As soon as the game starts, it’s always so high-paced, with real intensity, and if you’re not ready for that mentally, the game can swallow you up. My first derby wasn’t a good experience; we lost 3-0, and to be honest I’ve blocked most of that day out of my memory. It wasn’t a good day.
Jurgen Klopp has a fantastic record against Everton since taking over; he’s brought something really special to the team and in particular to this fixture. But all of that goes out of the window on matchday, along with your current form, your position in the table, the derby is always a tough game to take part in.
Liverpool will have to do a lot to get three points from this weekend’s match. But they would be such huge points in terms of the team’s confidence going forward for the rest of the season.
Things haven’t been great at all for Everton over the last couple of seasons, even under Rafa [Benitez] they really struggled, and it’s been the same with Frank Lampard. They avoided relegation last season and many may have thought things would turn around this season but it’s not been the case yet, and these next few weeks are very big for Lampard and his future with the club.
In the Premier League if you’re too far off your target, it’s very difficult to recover. A lot of teams above Everton have really improved as well, so they’re really playing catch-up.
Frank Lampard is already under pressure – whether you agree with that or not – and so the last thing you want to do when you’re in that position is lose a Merseyside derby. But just because of their current form, it doesn’t mean they can’t get a result this weekend. They just have to look at Manchester United and what happened when they played Liverpool, and that result has really kickstarted their season.
This is Everton’s biggest game of the season, so of course they’ll be up for it. I’m going to go for a Liverpool win, but it’ll be a tough one.
