Liverpool have had an up and down season. The Reds started the campaign brightly and were top at Christmas but the spectre of injuries was always looming large, eventually completely derailing the campaign in the New Year. Despite this there have been some performances to shout about; John Aldridge believes Fabinho has been the Liverpool player of the season.
All over the place
We are accustomed to seeing Fabinho operate as a 6, the best in the world in that role.
The Brazilian began the season in his familiar position but he spent most of the autumn and winter in the back four.
Season ending injuries to Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk left a gaping hole in the defence which needed to be filled by the midfielder.
He lined up alongside a parade of youngsters, partnering up with Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams; even his fellow midfielder Jordan Henderson popped in to say hello.
Thankfully, he’s now back in the midfield where he belongs thanks to the arrival of Ozan Kabak.
John Aldridge on Fabinho
This term has been a strange one in that the Reds haven’t been as cohesive a unit as usual.
Mo Salah is still the joint top scorer in the Premier League but both his and the rest of the team’s performances have been disjointed.
Despite this John Aldridge has reserved special praise for Fabinho, writing in the Sunday World:
“If I had to pick out a Liverpool player after a horrible season for Jurgen Klopp’s side, Fabinho has been the shining star both in defence and midfield.”
What RTK has to say
Liverpool would’ve been completely lost without Fabinho this term.
The Lighthouse has guided us through a storm expertly.
Had we not had him filling in at the back all of those months then we could be languishing in the bottom half of the table.
This season has been a demonstration of just how good a defender Fabby is.