Bologna enjoys the many resources of the Italian midfielder.
“Poetics”, one of the most successful songs by Cesare Cremonini from Bologna, is the soundtrack that accompanies the victories of Bologna to ‘Dall’Ara’, as well as a coherent adjective to describe the rossoblù’s season. A daydream for a city without Europe for at least twenty years, which in just a few months has stripped itself of the contours of surprise. The absolute protagonist is the leader of the bench, Thiago Motta. His game is also a leading topic on the international scene, for which it seems tailor-made; “a mix between positional and relational footballwhere decisions are the result of a collegial process”, thus defined by the coach himself. Bologna thus becomes the ideal context for the valorization of multiple individuals and their characteristics, starting from a Zirkzee that is as atypical as it is elegantly overflowing.
The Italian national team also benefits from it. Among Luciano Spalletti’s squad for the two friendly matches at the end of March in the United States against Venezuela and Ecuador, there are three rossoblù players: Riccardo Orsolini (who with the rupture of Berardi’s Achilles tendon is a strong candidate for a starting shirt in Germany), Riccardo Calafiori e Giovanni Fabian. It would be the first time with the blue shirt for the 2003 class owned byInterat least until the June 30, 2025the day by which the Nerazzurri can exercise the right of purchase at 12 million euros.
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The call is an important recognition just over eighteen months after entering professional football: a constant climb that has led him not only to be the perfect twelfth for a European-tinged Bolognabut even more.
In this Serie A Giovanni Fabbian has made 18 appearances, 9 as a starter. Bologna’s rich array of wingers and attacking midfielders constitutes continuous competition: even in 2003 he often had opportunities during the match in progress, but his rise is so rapid that we can no longer speak of super sub. The rossoblù have reached six consecutive victories in the championship and Fabbian always started from the first minute, except for the success against Fiorentina. A centrality gained thanks to an important numerical contributionmeasured by impressive statistics (4 goals and 2 assists) for a midfielder with a total of ‘only’ 836 minutes played.
In relation to the minutes played, Fabbian’s offensive numbers dwarf those of the other midfielders in the league.
His offensive qualities have conquered before anyone else Filippo Inzaghihis coach at Reggina last season: “Our way of playing allows the midfielders to enter the penalty area. The company and the attorney were good, they promised me great satisfaction with a midfielder like that. I didn’t know it and since the first game I haven’t taken it off”.
These statements tell one of the main qualities of Fabbian’s repertoire: theinsertion. Since the first matches in Reggio Calabria we have become accustomed to enjoying his receptions in the heart of the penalty area, where he anticipates the opponent and lets himself be found always free for a ride in tow. I received gol in cutback they are dated 2022, Inter’s Primavera, with which he won the category championship.
You know that instinctive ability to be found in the place right to time Right? Fabbian equips himself with clarity and applies an excellent reading of the situation not only in the insertion: he ferociously attacks the free space, he is ready to reiterate multiple situations online. Whether it’s taking advantage of a goalkeeper’s rebound or correcting a teammate’s shot.
It would be a mistake, however, to limit the description of his qualities to attack. Fabbian is a complete midfielder, who knows how to be ready in both phases.
The heatmap of the 22/23 season at Reggina
The heatmap of the 23/24 season at Bologna
The maps comparing the two seasons present slight variations, starting with the intensity of the positions held (also due to the playing time), but they have many points in common. The midfielder distributes his running and energy to cover a large part of the pitch over the course of 90 minutes. He prefers the center-right lane, area of natural competence. In defense he stops around the line of his own area, where he rarely enters and mainly to ward off opposing crosses. Often turns around the central band, offers verticality with quick movements between the lines. The red dot inside the opponent’s area cannot be missing, a typical hunting ground for his insertions. It doesn’t like to fossilize, it’s constantly moving.
Giovanni Fabbian is a rare combination of athletic and physical gifts, combined with 186 centimeters of height that manages to make itself felt in any situation.
Use your body to dribble, escaping pressing or doubling the scoring. To move he also likes to use technical means and more spectacular plays, such as the sole and the sombrero.
Il head shot it is a trademark. Fabbian is always present on high balls: goals, assists and tackles come from his head, a real aerial threat in the middle of the pitch. On favorable corner kicks he often starts from behind, just outside the area, and then attacks the ball, towering over his opponents.
The deadlift is not just a weapon to improve offensive capabilities, on the contrary: it is the most used and most effective means to help the defense. The Italian midfielder takes over the entire pitch to participate in the non-possession phase in the final moment, repelling the attack from the final third of the pitch and in particular from the last sixteen metres. On opposing crosses he uses his height and distance to remove dangers from his own area.
The ability to recover the ball even on the ground they remain in the shadows compared to the vast panorama of midfielders in the championship, but they are not to be underestimatedespecially the cleaning in harpooning the ball behind the opponent. In the current championship, Fabbian has an average of 44.46% successful tackles, during which it weighs 75 kilos and speed of execution. Specifically, as far as tackles are concerned, he has significantly improved his entry time and success in recovering possession, from 36.1% with Reggina to 60% with Bologna.
The wealth of resources is also wide on this subject steps. Fabbian doesn’t have the problem of players who are chronically in love with the ball, he knows how to manage possession with just a few touches. It is rare to see him engaged in solos or coast to coast without looking for a through ball – some situations still involve galloping, like the goal against Torinowhen he is already launched towards the goal.
There are frequent changes of play, especially towards the left side of the field, but He gives his best in through passes. Whenever he has the chance, he uses the light area to throw a teammate deep.
In season it has a good pass accuracy (77.39%) and above all an excellent average of shot-creating actions per game (2,08 via FBref).
Giovanni Fabbian in four games
From his arrival in Reggina onwards, here are the selections four games with Giovanni Fabbian as protagonistwhich aim to be a summary of the player’s characteristics as precise as possible.
Brescia-Reggina 0-2, 04/12/2022
In Reggina’s dramatic pre-bankruptcy season, Giovanni Fabbian played his first season among professionals. First league debut, first goal exactly two weeks later. There will be 8 at the end of the year, with the award for best player in Serie B 2022/23 as the icing on the cake. At ‘Rigamonti’ he highlights his header skills, with which he scores goals and assists. He unlocks the game by smashing in the penalty area, cutting Brescia’s marking in two with impressive speed, then goes over the Rondinelle line from the edge and finds the winning insertion from Menez for the second goal. In the second half he starts the scooter; he lowers himself and helps through several sweeps, but at the same time he exalts his speed in the middle of the pitch, between the spaces left by a Brescia pushed forward.
Reggina-Ternana 2-1, 01/21/2023
It probably is the match-manifesto of what he left in Reggio Calabria. With long teams for large stretches of the match, Fabbian occupies spaces as he pleases. Lots of running, lots of recoveries, but above all a double (the only one in his career) born from his sense of position. In the first goal he attacks the ball, left near the goal line after a rebound from a free kick to a beaten Iannarilli, with great competitive violence. He then doubled the score by throwing a rebound from the Ternana goalkeeper into the goal from a corner kick.
San Marino U21-Italy U21 0-7, 16/11/2023
Citing a match with the blue shirt honors his rise to the national team. He has been wearing blue for 6 years, having started in 2018 with the Under 16 selection. In this match, valid for the qualifications for the European Championship in the category, Fabbian plays the entire second half. He spent 45 carefree minutes and left his mark on the scoreboard, scoring the fifth of seven goals. The light climate and almost absent pressure made an excellent performance possible, a faithful synthesis of his abilities: massive aerial presence, many touches and vertical passes, constant search for through balls, goals from insertions.
Bologna-Verona 2-0, 23/02/2024
The moment of his fourth goal with the Bologna shirt coincides with the first show as an absolute protagonist, which also consecrates his talent in Serie A. Goal and assist in the only two goals of the match. The goal underlines an unmistakable fact: he is in the right place at the right time. After a series of rebounds, a low cross from Orsolini passes and there is always Giovanni Fabbian, ready to stretch his foot for the rossoblù advantage. The assist is a delightful play, a soft cross that throws the Verona defense completely out of time and gives Freuler the final 2-0.