Jamie Carragher picked out Fabinho as a player whose form is ‘miles off the pace’ at Liverpool. The Brazilian isn’t playing well.
Jamie Carragher took aim at Liverpool’s midfield in a piece for Monday Night Football this week. He sees it as the weak link at the Reds, with some scathing comments on Fabinho.
“There’s no doubt they’ve got a huge problem [in midfield],” said Carragher. “I think certainly Fabinho, he’s been miles off the pace from what he’s normally been this season.”
Fabinho shows poor form at Liverpool
Well, Carragher is far from the only one to spot this. Reports suggest Jurgen Klopp was frustrated with Fabinho for his positioning against Brighton on Saturday.
And that’s hardly a shock. Fabinho’s role in the team is to stop counter-attacks and breakup play. Those are two areas where Liverpool are falling seriously short this season and while it’s certainly not all his fault, the Brazilian isn’t playing well.
He’s slow to react, leaving gaps and too much happens on the edge of Liverpool’s box. Fabinho, along with several others, is finding himself wildly isolated in a team that lacks any cohesion.
There’s no easy fix, either. Fabinho is Liverpool’s only out-and-out holding midfielder and we can’t see Klopp abandoning the role. It’s simply too important for a team that wants to press high and control possession.
We wonder if the answer is in changing the shape in midfield. Back in 2018, with Fabinho struggling to adapt to his new team in Liverpool, Klopp used a 4-2-3-1 system and afforded the £39m signing some help.
A similar move could prove useful here. Shift a midfielder back, possibly pull the full-backs in, and Liverpool would leave Fabinho a lot less isolated. That may bring about a rebound in his form and make the team more solid.
But it’s far from easy. Liverpool need to do something and helping Fabinho out is merely one option of many. Klopp certainly has a few major decisions to make.
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