Garth Crooks was so impressed by Fabinho on Saturday against Brighton, that not only did he select our Brazilian in his Team of the Week, but he claimed his performance at centre-back was good enough to persuade Jurgen Klopp into selling Dejan Lovren.
The Croat was injured and unavailable for the game, alongside Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, so Fabinho played alongside Virgil van Dijk and shone – helping us keep a clean-sheet in the 1-0 win.
Fabinho is a holding midfielder, but his attributes and physicality certainly make him a decent option in defence.
Here’s what Crooks had to say:
“This player has become a far more important addition to the Liverpool set-up than I first realised.
“The Brazilian enforcer looks better at centre-back than he does in midfield. At least that’s how it appeared against a Brighton side who made life difficult for the league leaders but struggled to really hurt them.
“When there was the slightest threat, Fabinho snuffed it out. His positioning throughout the match was quite impressive. Any more displays like that and Dejan Lovren might have to start looking for new employers.”
While Fab did well, we want him back in midfield long-term – and don’t think selling one of our senior central defenders would be smart considering how injury prone they all are (bar van Dijk).
We don’t want Lovren to be an automatic starter, but as a backup to Gomez and Matip, he’s a very strong option to have.
Fans give him stick for his mistakes, but the majority of the time, Lovren is very solid.
For us, he still has plenty to offer and if Jurgen Klopp thinks he’s an asset, so should we.