He’s good when the game is mostly in front of him, not so good at running backwards. He struggles in midfield when we play an open game and the opposition run off him but give him a more compact structure to work in like that and he seems to excel.
The clearance will get the attention but the real impressive bits were how well he read the game when the opposition had the ball on the edge of the box and how aggressive he was when winning it in those situations. Just hope he can stay fit all season, have no qualms about him playing back there long term .
Immense tonight. He’s very good when we’re in backs to the wall mode. Last minute blocks and clearances all over the place. A CB who can do the dirty stuff but is also really comfortable on the ball with a good range of passing. Not many CBs in the world that fit that description.
I like Fabinho, he was my long standing pick for a defensively capable CM for a long while and I was made up when we signed him. I still really like him as a CM/DM who is able to actually do something with the ball not just win it. I can see what others say and concede he’s not fully rounded in that role but I think he’s top (possibly even world) class at what he does and really like him. But got to say I think he makes an amazing CB and starting to think it might really suit him to make the change permanent based on what we are seeing so far. Time will tell if he can bring consistency to his performances in the role but he definitely brings quality.
Such great timing with his challenges, both in midfield but particularly in defence where it stands out more. I’m so glad we have him. And he always plays every game with a smile. I hope he’s genuinely glad to be with us for a long time to come!
Him and his Mrs are world class for how they’ve dived in from day one and ate, slept and breathed LFC since his move. She comes across as a proper fangirl for him and us and it’s fucking awesome.
Wolves away in the FA cup we conceded a couple! That doesn’t really count, though, given the fact he was playing next to a 16 year old.
His other games from memory were Brighton (A), Bayern (H), Chelsea (A) and Ajax (A). Pretty impressive to keep 4 clean sheets in those, and Bayern and Ajax were without Van Dijk too.
This one was more tricky, Sheffield having a lot of willing runners into space. I thought that wasn’t a foul/pen (it was inside though), but it was a bad beforehand clearance and a stupid decision to go down in the first place, too risky in that situation.
