Jurgen Klopp never likes to really throw a new signing in at the deep end. The German coach has an instinct to hold certain new personnel back and get them to earn their spot in his Liverpool team.

On occasion a player has walked straight into the side, like Mohamed Salah and Alisson.

Andy Robertson was one that had to wait and earn his chance. Once it came the Scottish international didn’t look back and he’s now one of Europe’s top left-backs.

Last summer Klopp brought in Alisson, Naby Keita, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho. Only world-class goalkeeper Alisson managed to start the season as a first team regular.

For the first few months Naby was being used slightly more but even then he couldn’t really impress enough to dislodge Jurgen’s trusted midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Georginio Wjnaldum.

Brazilian international Fabinho was lucky if he made the match day squad in the early days. His Reds debut came as an injury time cameo against PSG in the Champions League on the 18th of September. He then had to wait another month before making his full Premier League debut!

There was even chat that the holding midfielder was heading back to Ligue 1 on a loan move to PSG (From Bleacher Report).

Then in the second half of the season, we started to see Fabinho play more and more for the Merseyside giants.

By the end of the season the former AS Monaco started seven European ties and made twenty-eight league appearances for Liverpool. His prominence in the team was apparent when he started and played the full ninety minutes in the Champions League final victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

The twenty-five year old has won Klopp’s confidence, which has seen club captain Henderson move to the right of the midfield and seen veteran Milner drop out of the starting eleven.

This season has seen Fabinho make six appearances out of six in the league so far and he’s looked great as his team’s anchor. He gives them height in the engine room and wins on average 1 aerial duel per game. He also keeps things ticking with his passing, enjoying an 87% passing success record for the Anfield club (Stats – Whoscored).

He’s also aggressive in winning the ball back for his teammates, no one at Liverpool has bettered Fabinho’s 2.2 tackles per game this term.

Obviously having Virgil van Dijk in the heart of your defence is a huge positive for The Reds but make no doubt about it Liverpool’s defensive spine has been boosted by having Fabinho playing in front of the back-line.

Another big plus is his versatility. As well as being a holding midfielder the Brazilian started his career as an attacking full-back and last season he fitted in at centre-back during an injury crisis and was fantastic in alongside Van Dijk. The reason he could do that and be a success is simple, he’s a very smart and intelligent footballer!

The international middle-man is also able to create and start attacks. He might be a defensive midfielder by trade but he’s comfortable on the ball. Although it should be noted that The Reds haven’t seen his true quality at set-pieces yet.

Against Chelsea last weekend, Fabinho made his 50th appearance in a Liverpool jersey. He was, as always, fully committed and took the game to his opponents.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed recently that the midfielder has now become a key component within his team, while also confirming that the player needed to sit out and learn the English game before realising his full potential:

“He plays like he played at Monaco, but he needed time to adapt to the different rhythm and tempo in the league. That’s it.”

“But in the moment when that happened, when he got used to that, since then he can play like he plays because of his quality.”

“A very smart footballer and, of course, really skilled in all defensive things. These individual defensive things are really difficult to learn.”

LiverpoolFC.com

Once again Jurgen Klopp has shown his man-management skills are second to none. He made Fabinho wait and once he adapted the Brazilian was given his opportunity, he went on to prove that’s he’s a superb player that will help Liverpool to secure more success!

Posted on September 25th, 2019 by scott
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