After bearing the brunt of much criticism during the season so far, Liverpool midfielder Fabinho has now found himself on the receiving end of more cerebral assessment from The Athletic’s Andy Jones.
The 29-year-old was praised by the journalist for the much-improved standard of his recent performances, following a rather more difficult first few months of the campaign.
The reporter shared a detailed analysis of the Brazilian’s displays against Manchester United and Wolves in which he highlighted the player’s important contributions to those victories.
Sharing the article from The Athletic via Twitter, Jones stated: “Whisper it quietly… but the old Fabinho might be back. It’s a small sample size but the Brazilian’s performances have improved recently.
“#LFC felt it was a case of just playing through his slump. He may finally have come out the other side of it.”
Whisper it quietly… but the old Fabinho might be back.
It's a small sample size but the Brazilian's performances have improved recently. #LFC felt it was a case of just playing through his slump.
He may finally have come out the other side of it. https://t.co/yva3HJBrJ8
— Andy Jones (@adjones_journo) March 9, 2023
The 2022/23 campaign has indeed been a testing one for Fabinho, whose current WhoScored rating of 6.67 for his Premier League performances is his lowest for a top-flight season since coming to Liverpool in 2018.
Jamie Carragher had singled out the Brazilian for criticism in October (@Carra23 on Twitter), around the same time Scott Minto issued the damning claim on talkSPORT that ‘it’s like his twin brother playing at the moment’.
However, as Jones rightly points out, the 29-year-old’s recent displays have shown discernible signs of improvement.
Three of his last four league matches have seen Fabinho earn a WhoScored rating of 6.95 or higher, something he only managed in two of his 12 prior top-flight games.
He was also an unsung hero in the 7-0 thrashing of Man United last Sunday, recording more interceptions than any other Reds player (three, via Sofascore) as his attacking teammates took the glory with their goalscoring feats.
We’ll still need the Brazilian to either maintain or improve further on those levels until the end of the season, but just like Liverpool as a whole, it feels like he’s turned a corner over the past month or so.