In Fabinho’s past three games, he’s taken two steps forward and one step back.
The 25-year-old was gargantuan against Red Star Belgrade a fortnight ago – making nine tackles and completely dominating the midfield at Anfield.
Versus Cardiff, he also did well, showing an ability to drive the team forward as well as disrupt opponents.
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But against Arsenal on Saturday, Fabinho simply couldn’t get up to the pace of the game and was a liability at no.6.
We’re not holding this against him, as his good performances were in a different formation, but recognise that he’s not yet at the level where he’ll be a consistently fantastic performer for us.
Fabinho has discussed the situation honestly, suggesting that his understanding of English is currently making the situation a little harder.
“I’m not totally settled just yet,” the Brazil international told Sky Sports.
“I’m still adapting to here but I believe that I’m now used to the football style, especially when it comes to the intensity of the game which is really different from the league that I came from.
“Also, I’m feeling well at the club. I can communicate well with my team-mates, even though my English isn’t great. The language barrier is one of the issues so far.
“Regarding the managers, I’m adapted to their training sessions and I’m comfortable with that. I’m now playing more regularly, which is also important.
“I’m on the right track to completely adapting to England.”
The former AS Monaco man, who was instrumental in their run to the Champions League semi-finals a few years ago, is eventually going to become a key starter for Liverpool.
We’ve already seen enough good signs from him, and think his situation is quite similar to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s last term.
It took the Englishman a while to get up to scratch tactically and learn a new position, but by Christmas, he was excelling.