Fabinho

[King Binny]

Liverpool decided to sign Fabinho rather than Lucas Torreira or Jorginho due to his imposing "physical presence".

Brazilian midfielder Fabinho joined the Reds from Monaco for £43.7million last summer and has grown into one of Jurgen Klopp's most dependable midfielders.

The 25-year-old made 28 appearances in the Premier League last season as he attempted to find his footing in England after his big money move.

Fabinho has already got onto the pitch in all three of the Reds' league matches this season, along with starting both the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup.

Against Arsenal at the weekend, Fabinho ran the Reds midfield to help set-up a 3-1 victory over the Gunners - with Joel Matip and a Mohamed Salah brace settling the three points.

It all adds up to Klopp and the Reds' scouting and transfer teams doing the perfect job in picking up.

According to The Athletic, Liverpool had been tracking Fabinho since the 2012/13 season, when he was tearing up Real Madrid's B team, Castilla, as a right-back, while on loan from Rio Ave.

He managed a single first team appearance at Real before Monaco stole him away from the Portuguese club, and he became a defensive midfielder.

After five sensational campaigns in the south of France, during which he won Ligue 1, the Reds were weighing up a move for a defensive midfielder.

With Torreira and Jorginho, who were at Sampdoria and Napoli respectively, also on their scouting list, Liverpool took a deep dive into the trio.

They discovered, according to The Athletic, Fabinho was the best option primarily due to his 6'2 frame, in comparison to Torreira's 5'6 and Jorginho's 5'11.

Another reason was his glowing character references off the pitch, which would see him fit perfectly into the Melwood training ground atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Uruguayan Torreira ended up at Arsenal, while Chelsea fought off Manchester City to sign Jorginho.



Assist for Salah


Roberto Firmino sent Fabinho a message prior to him putting pen to paper with Liverpool - and it convinced him to sign.

Brazilian Firmino knows Fabinho from his country's international set up and was integral to Liverpool getting their man back in 2018.

Jurgen Klopp signed the midfielder from Monaco very early on in the summer 2018, just days after Liverpool's Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid .

Fabinho penned a five-year deal after the £43.7million transfer fee went through, and revealed his delight in signing for the Anfield giants.

The Reds had chased Fabinho since the 2012/13 season, when he spent a season at Real Madrid on loan from Rio Ave.

But it was a conversation with striker Firmino, who joined Liverpool in 2015 from Hoffenheim, that persuaded him to move to Merseyside.

"This manager demands a lot but he will improve you," Firminho told Fabinho, according to The Athletic.

Firmino, along with fellow Brazilian Alisson and his wife Rebeca, were also integral for keeping the defensive midfielder's spirits up during a frustrating first season at Anfield.

Fabinho was used sparingly during his debut campaign, especially in the Premier League where he only made 28 appearances.

Klopp has already got onto the pitch in all three of the Reds' league matches this season, along with starting both the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup.

Against Arsenal at the weekend, Fabinho ran the Reds midfield to help set-up a 3-1 victory over the Gunners - with Joel Matip and a Mohamed Salah brace settling the three points.

Klopp in particular was thrilled with Fabinho's display, branding it "sensational", before adding: “There was one tackle from him that was just incredible – completely clean, winning the ball and passing it with his bum pretty much still on the floor!”

 

[Modo]

I really like the fact that he's tall. Helps a lot with the high press tactics.

 

[Mors]

All us fans have been calling out for years since mascher left for us to sign a proper DM as it would massively help us, and all the managers wouldn't have a bar of it, then low and behold we sign one, and it works like we said it would. I like Fabinho, he's a good solid player and a DM makes such a difference for arse covering.

 

[binomial]

Also a versatile player.

Can play either LB or RB and has played CB for us already.

 

[Squiggles]

He's quality. The only CM I want to start every single match without fail.

 

[moron]

We all know deep inside he is destined for an elite club like Barca. I realize how important he is for us and his physical size was the big plus for me, we badly needed it and I can only think you dont need a big mother fucker in the middle if you have a freak like Kante. Any, I think Klopp showed us how much faith he has in him when we saw the big poor fucker in a midfield of ... one ... during the first half of the european super cup.

 

[FreshRed]

All us fans have been calling out for years since mascher left for us to sign a proper DM as it would massively help us, and all the managers wouldn't have a bar of it, then low and behold we sign one, and it works like we said it would. I like Fabinho, he's a good solid player and a DM makes such a difference for arse covering.

And, he can pass much better than most DMs. He sometimes gets caught out, but a little like Mascher, his recovery his superb.

 

[SummerOnions]

He's fucking boss. Best DM since Mascherano, and he's even better somehow

 

[rurikbird]

If there is a weakness to his game, it's the lack of the initial burst of pace – when left exposed he can look like he's standing on an island all by himself with opponents running past him in the spaces just out of his reach. Playing Gini alongside him mitigates it pretty well (Gini is great at slowing the opposition attack down until the help arrives), but I also want to see how he would pair up with Keita, whose burst of pace is Mane-esque. With Keita's pressing ability and Fabinho's efficient tackling, those 2 look like potentially a perfect CM partnership.

 

[Frogfish]

He's quality. The only CM I want to start every single match without fail.

This.

 

[Roopy]

Torreira, Jorginho & Fabinho are 3 different types of midfielders.

It depends what you're looking for - all 3 are quality midfielders. We just needed the qualities of Fabinho more than the other 2.

Fabinho - strong defensively, and expected to sit deeper, ball winner, simple passes & get rid of the ball quickly.

Jorginho - sits deep, more of a deep lying play maker, expected to have a more dynamic passing range, controls tempo.

Torreira - more of a box to box midfielder, high work rate expect all over the pitch, offers more in attacking areas.

 

[Brizzle]

He's already key to our spine. So relaxed on the ball and has the ability to play some samba passes when necessary. So much of our future will revolve around this guy in the middle.

 

[binomial]

I think his main weakness at times is positionally, he can be caught too far upfield and on the counter teams would be at our back 4.

Would rather not see him chasing back on a counter attack.

 

[manwithnoname]

I think his main weakness at times is positionally, he can be caught too far upfield and on the counter teams would be at our back 4.

Would rather not see him chasing back on a counter attack.

We play a high line and very offensive football, so he's going to be caught upfield at times.

That does leave him occasionally left totally adrift if they can manoeuvre the ball past him with a good pass or bit of individual skill, and because he's perhaps not as nippy across the ground as a Kante-style DM, he can look a bit flat-footed if he's caught out, and he can't turn as quickly.

He's not slow, though.

 

[ibromurph]

Nothing to do with being in the wrong position in my opinion. He's often where we need him to be. Where he's been instructed to be.

The problem is, he can either get overrun if the 2 CMs aren't close enough to him, and the opposition combine quickly or have forwards who drop off. This happened against Southampton away last year when Gini went ghost and Keita was too wide of CM. Fabinho was all over the place, because he had to cover too much ground and was being overloaded in the central area.

He's also been instructed to be aggressive and try to win the ball early. Which is great when it works, it maintains our attack and puts the opposition under sustained pressure. When it doesn't work, he can give away a foul high enough that it doesn't warrant an immediate yellow.

However, if you've got a very good technical player up against him and that play can combine quickly with a teammate, or simply turn very quickly on the ball (and has the power to get away from Fabinho), he can be made to look slow and plodding again. But heh, it requires a pretty good player.

 

[Brizzle]

Its the classic risk/reward. We deploy him further up as he can be incredible effective at moving the ball around when we are trying to box the opposition into their defensive third but if they break it means we are more exposed.

 

[Frogfish]

Its the classic risk/reward. We deploy him further up as he can be incredible effective at moving the ball around when we are trying to box the opposition into their defensive third but if they break it means we are more exposed.

Exactly this. Too many people seem to want their cake and eat it. If he's up there contributing to the attack (as he should be otherwise our midfield would be outnumbered) then he's out of position to defend balls over the top or fast breaks on the wings. You can't have it both ways .. which is why VvD and Matip play such a high line, to reduce that distance to Fabs and make it more difficult to break.

 

[tombrown]

Too many people seem to want their and eat it.

And then there are some poor souls, like Froggy, who get no cake at all.

 

[Frogfish]

And then there are some poor souls, like Froggy, who get no cake at all.

Haha ! For the sake of brevity I thought I'd leave it out 😉

 

[King Binny]

[article]Watching him saunter around the middle third of the pitch while he plots his next move on an opposition player, Fabinho gives off the impression he belongs there. There are no signs that the defensive midfield role could be considered his secondary position. The Brazilian doesn’t look out of place in playing as Jurgen Klopp’s no.6.

Yet the man trusted to carry out arguably the most important job in the Liverpool team started off life as an attacking right-back. He was, for a period of time, considered to be one of the most exciting talents in Europe.

Patrolling the right-hand side for Monaco, Fabinho would power through the gears to support the play in the final third. But unlike other Brazilian full-backs, the one-time Real Madrid player didn’t shirk his defensive duties. There was a balance to his game that so many others in his role lacked.

Had he stayed there, he’d probably be one of the best right-backs in the world. But those in charge of the Principality club has other ideas.

“It was the brainchild of Leonardo Jardim to move the Brazilian to centre-midfield after he quickly established himself as one of the best right-backs in Ligue 1,” French journalist Andrew Gibney told LFC Stories.

“Unlike most other full-backs in France, he showed a good sense to stay in position when needed and defended well. But then Fabinho began to show his passing abilities and he would command games from that right-back area. Monaco realised he could do that but from a central area. He had everything Jardim wanted from his midfielders; he was tall and strong, but with pace, stamina and a drive to push forward”

In the Monaco set-up, a player of Fabinho’s skill set was wasted on the periphery of the pitch. Had he been a right-back for this Liverpool team, he perhaps might have stayed there given Klopp tasks his full-backs with being creative forces, but calm in possession.

His performances went up another level after the switch to midfield, and the links to Manchester United never seemed to go away. It felt like when, and not if, he’d be calling Old Trafford home. That was until that one fateful night in May 2018, when in the space of two hours Fabinho went from being a Liverpool transfer target to being a Liverpool player.

The Reds struck early in the window to secure their Emre Can replacement and the potential counterweight to Naby Keita in midfield. It was a Michael Edwards masterclass.

As with all new signings, Klopp and the coaching team needed to get him up to speed with the rigours of their system. He needed to adapt to a new league and a new style. The Brazilian needed to have patience, something he realised before joining as he would later reveal.[/article]

 

[King Binny]

[article]
Jurgen wasn’t kidding anybody.

“The flight was not cool, but if nothing happens it should be possible for him to start number 26 in 30 or something like that,” the Liverpool boss told the media in his Friday briefing.

Gut one, Jurgen.

The 'him' was Brazilian midfielder Fabinho.

He had started 24 of Liverpool’s last 29 games before Saturday's visit of Newcastle – and the Reds boss will have been acutely aware of exactly how many.

Because Jurgen Klopp knows exactly how important Fabinho has been to the incredible run of results Liverpool have posted in that timescale.

Roberto Firmino, who was on the same ‘uncool’ flight as his Brazilian team-mate, was left on the substitutes' bench ahead of the rigours of seven games in 21 days, but Fabinho was thrust firmly into the action once again.

Firmino is understandably cast as the most influential unsung hero of Klopp’s first choice starting XI. No-one is taking that mantle any time soon, especially after Saturday's outrageous impact off the bench.

But Fabinho exerts his own very important influence on this side.

He does what all good central midfielders do, always making himself available and moving the ball on with a minimum of fuss, effectively and efficiently.

A carefully volleyed sidefooted pass back to Virgil van Dijk in the 11th minute elicited loud cheers, largely because so much of what had gone before had been sloppy and ill directed.

He tackled sharply and swiftly to dispossess Joelinton in the 19th and then provided the pass of the half - at least until Firmino came on - with a sweetly lofted chip to Trent Alexander Arnold which the young full-back attempted to cross rather than shoot.

The youngster should have taken a leap from Mo Salah's book....

With the points wrapped up Xherdan Shaqiri and James Milner were both introduced before the end, but Fabinho was not the man to make way on either occasion.

When Jordan Henderson returns in Italy on Tuesday he is unlikely to move aside again.

And Klopp won't need to kid anybody about that.
[/article]


Appearances33, Goals1, Wins27, Losses1

 

[binomial]

Fantastic today again, he is the best DM in this league maybe bar Kante.

He pisses all over Jorginho, Kovavic, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Rodri, Matic, Sissoko

Who else is there?

Capoue? Ndidi? Schneirderlin? No one comes close really

 

[darkstarexodus]

Fantastic today again, he is the best DM in this league maybe bar Kante.

He pisses all over Jorginho, Kovavic, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Rodri, Matic, Sissoko

Who else is there?

Capoue? Ndidi? Schneirderlin? No one comes close really

Yeah. I'd still maybe have Kante before him but they're of the same class. No one else gets close

 

[moron]

Yeah. I'd still maybe have Kante before him but they're of the same class. No one else gets close

Agree on this totally.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Kante is a beast and out on his own. He’s different to Fabs.

 

[KopRed]

Yeah. I'd still maybe have Kante before him but they're of the same class. No one else gets close

I'll have Fab just for his height. Realistically, only the long ball over the top could hurt us by quickly bypassing our combative midfield and press. But with the man mountains of Fab in the midfield, Vir and Matip at the back, teams seem to have abandoned this approach.

 

[Modo]

I'll have Fab just for his height. Realistically, only the long ball over the top could hurt us by quickly bypassing our combative midfield and press. But with the man mountains of Fab in the midfield, Vir and Matip at the back, teams seem to have abandoned this approach.

Yes I've highlighted this as well. It's great having a big DM. A bit strange that he's positioned outside the box at offensive set pieces.

 

[StevieM]

Of course Fabinho is a cracking DM - he’s not only built like C3PO, he has the same haircut.

 

[MomoWASright]

He’s got a boss hair cut.

 

[Hansern]

He’s boss. One of the best DMs around