Fabio "FABINHO" TAVARES: 2022/23

Jürgen’s words seem to suggest he won’t unless necessary…

one thing I’d not thought of til now, when I was reminded. is how difficult it can be for some people to recover from a wicked bout of Covid.

I’m not saying that his problem is such, or any of the others who have dropped off a cliff. But when I was away at Christmas to visit family back east and got it (for the second time) it kicked my ass for weeks and I’m still not back to 100% after 5 weeks.

And I still haven’t been back to 100% since I got it really early on, Feb 2020. Just to get rid of the pain in my upper back from the coughing took 3 months. It was a terrible feeling.

2 Likes

It’s a possible suggestion, I know a lad who was probably one of the fittest at our club and now he is clobbering it about at the lowest level and isn’t playing much there.

Sad to see.

I was about to post in the Newcastle match thread that looks like he’s putting in tackles finally and getting into positions to stop some attack and he did that half arsed effort to track back after losing the ball jogging slowly till I think it was Saint Maximin who got that shot.

Yesterday I saw few moments where he actually didn’t pass behind and sideways, was available for the ball and tried retrieving the ball well and as I started having some hope for him just like that he was back to what he’s been doing this season.

We cannot afford to have midfielders who are not keen on doing any dirty work and can’t understand basic positioning and who won’t even try to win duels or cut of passes or atleast put a shift and run when the possession is lost. Nunez puts a better defensive shift than him, says quite a lot actually.

Am sorry, but Jurgen continuously playing him and keeping him for the entire game when likes of Keita is on the bench is something I just don’t understand.

I was actually rather impressed in the first 30. After that no.

I get the feeling with Fabinho, his whole body language, the way his form suddenly dropped off a cliff, becoming fragile, slow, lethargic in the games… It is as though he doesn’t want to be here, as though his love for the game has gone, as though football doesn’t matter to him anymore… I know the comment about him losing his dad a while back could have been a trigger of sorts that he has not fully recovered from yet… Just hope everything that can be okay in the guys life is actually okay… Strange the way someone once so dependable has become a shell of himself out on the pitch…

1 Like

Its sad watching his decline, just look at clips of their counter attacks and Fabinho looks like he is wearing lead boots.

Put a for sale sign on him 10m this summer.

The time to sell Fabinho was last summer. No-one is going to touch him now. If we can see his legs have gone, we’re not going to fool some other mugs into parting with cash for him.

Personally, I’d be having a conversation with him about playing more in defence, because he sure as hell hasn’t got the legs to run around midfield anymore

Being part of a defensive group with Van Dijk, Konate, Gomez and a replacement for Matip might suit him at this point.

1 Like

Lucas was similar and got another few years in slow league.

1 Like

A sale this summer will be difficult, but it might not be the only option.

There could be a loan, another club sharing or paying most of his wages, some option or obligation to buy. Let’s see if something emerges. For a lot of these questions we still have to see how our season ends. Even Klopp right now certainly doesn’t know what will happen this summer.

Things also need to be put into context, last summer Fabinho was 1 year into his new extension that ties him here until 2026. Last summer or this summer, I don’t think it would’ve made it more easier, last summer we would been more reluctant to sell him.

Truth is, Fabinho in practically all seasons with us had some little blips in form (not that a lot of other players have it, even Mane had it in a few seasons for us), but by large we were satisfied with him.

Also, if we want to win, and let’s keep in mind this is Liverpool and not Brighton, we can’t look at every player through resale.

We have to change the team bit by bit, sometimes less, sometimes more. It’s true that there can be a case made how we spend our money on so many forwards and left the midfield maybe with too much to deal with considering their ages.

But yeah, no hiding from the fact that individually, he’s been our most underperfoming player this season. It doesn’t help that he’s bang in the middle of a team which has lost it’s pressing principles and even when he was at his best, pace was not one of his strengths.

You’ve been banging this drum for years. :joy:

It didn’t happen when he was good, it’s not going to happen now that he’s un-good. He doesn’t have the awareness.

I have made a lot of comments that if not excuses were at least context of how it looks to me that it has been harder playing in midfield this year than in past years. But you look at the way he was robbed on the 5th goal - that should never happen. And his running through treacle attempt at covering back :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Yeah, he looks so pedestrian in a lot of moments these days. Not only pressing people, which can be difficult if it’s not enough in sync, but really basic stuff like coming towards the ball while receiving a pass, then shifting your body to keep the ball circulating. Klopp said he had talks with Fabinho, maybe there some physical issues also, but he’s really struggling and it’s been months now without any serious change.

1 Like

Unbelievably bad.

Not as bad as the quality of the video.

2 Likes

The quality of the player is what Liverpool fans want to discuss. :woozy_face:

When was he “best itw”?

Best DM itw, when we were winning everything there was to win? And he was playing every minute of every game at the anchor of our midfield.

He has three years left on his contract after this season. Presumably he is well paid. And if we can see his decline, everyone can see it.

We do not have a lot of leverage here.

If a team in Italy want him, then it will be on a free in order to cover the wages. And even then, they might want a loan deal, or for us to subsidize his wages. The European leagues look at the rich Premier League and generally do not want to help top English teams solve their problems. It’s the other way around - they are looking for a steal, and they think they can get it, because there’s so much money in the Prem.

I think we will keep him, but mostly because we don’t want to pay for him to go. At that point using him as a cb in a group as Matip suggests above seems like it would make the best of a bad situation. Or arguably if we got some athleticism in the midfield, maybe when he plays there he wouldn’t be so exposed. Or maybe this is a long spell of bad form and his level will improve again?

Bottom line, we do not have a lot of leverage with Fabinho.

We have tended to assume that we will be more efficiently run in midfield, once we lose the wages of Keita, Ox and Milner (retiring, slightly different to the other two). Fabinho might move into one of those slots marked “high wages for not much activity on the pitch.”