Reading manager Paul Ince has claimed that Liverpool looked so much better with Fabinho on the pitch against Manchester United.
In quotes from the Liverpool Echo, Ince suggested that The Reds looked ‘uncomfortable’ without Fabinho. According to Ince, Liverpool improve when he plays.
“There was no intensity, no rhythm [against United]. Fabinho comes on second half they’re a different team, took Henderson off and no disrespect to Milner but he’s played the whole game. I felt from minute one, they didn’t look comfortable in how they set the team up,” said the former Liverpool midfielder.
Ince was also bemused by the use of Harvey Elliott in a deeper lying position.
“Harvey Elliott in the holding position, at Blackburn he was on the left scoring 15 goals a season, now he’s in a holding position,” he said. “[Liverpool were] Slow, lethargic.”
Fabinho decision backfires on Klopp
There’s no doubt that Liverpool improved when Fabinho arrived from the bench on Monday night. Jurgen Klopp’s decision to drop the Brazilian was perhaps one of the key deciding factors of the result.
That’s not to necessarily say that it was the wrong decision from Klopp. Fabinho hadn’t covered himself in glory in the previous two games, and the manager maybe felt he needed to let him know that.
But when the options to come into the side were so thin on the ground, it seemed like a strange call.
Liverpool toiled in midfield all game long, with Milner and Henderson carrying the can for that. Fabinho’s ability to snuff out attacks would have come in handy against United’s counter-attacking play.
What is done is done, though. Liverpool have to move on and plan for the next game, which Fabinho simply has to play.
If Klopp had been keen to give his no.3 a kick up the back-side, maybe a better time to do it would have been this coming weekend. Bournemouth are likely to play a similar counter-attacking style to United but will carry much less threat.
Those are the games where Fabinho isn’t always needed quite so badly. In those clashes against the top sides, especially away from home, he still very much is. If Klopp somehow didn’t know that before Old Trafford, he certainly does now.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
