‘Not sure what the problem is’: Merson can’t figure out what’s wrong with £39m Liverpool player

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Paul Merson can’t figure out what the problem is with Liverpool’s Fabinho this season. The Brazilian has come in for some criticism.

Fabinho has been one of the surprise stories at Liverpool this season – and for all the wrong reasons. Rewind to last season and the Brazilian is one of the world’s best holding midfielders. Things just won’t go his way right now, however.

It’s something Jamie Carragher has repeatedly brought up this season. He questioned him at the start of the month, saying Fabinho was ‘miles off the pace’ this season. He then picked him out against Nottingham Forest as a struggling player.

And to be fair to Carragher, he was within his right to do so. Fabinho did not play well at the weekend.

Paul Merson can’t figure it out, either. He gave his weekend predictions to Sportskeeda on Thursday and talked about Liverpool needing Fabinho back to his best.

“Fabinho has played a lot of matches this season,” said Merson. “I do like him, and I’m not sure what the problem is there.

“If Liverpool are to be a success, they need him at their best. A lot of what he does goes unnoticed. If you’ve watched Liverpool over the years, you’ll know that the midfield three made everything happen.

“They’re struggling without a settled midfield.”

Liverpool’s Fabinho problem

It’s a difficult one to pinpoint, admittedly. The easy answer is that Fabinho simply isn’t playing well – he looks sluggish on the ball and is struggling against opposition counter-attacks.

But Liverpool don’t make things easy for him. There are so many gaps across the pitch this season, with both the press breaking down and the Reds’ ability to cover one another. It’s particularly a problem for Fabinho as the side asks him to do so much one-v-one as it is.

So when Fabinho isn’t in form it really shows. A lot gets past him and no one seems capable of covering him to any great extent.

We wonder if Jurgen Klopp’s switch to a 4-4-2 diamond might help, though. It makes the middle a lot more compact and that should allow for more cover. At the very least, teams will need to push wider and that should take pressure away from Fabinho.

Ease that pressure and perhaps he can return to his best form before long.