FABINHO HELPS TO CALM NERVES
EVERYWHERE you looked faces were scrunched up in frustration. There were only 90 seconds gone but a few significant reactions made you wonder if it was going to be one of those nights. The eye was drawn to Joe Gomez, who was scowling and gesticulating; Fabinho looked exasperated; Adrian — in his canary yellow goalkeeper kit — pointed and barked. On the touchline, 50 yards away, Jurgen Klopp bellowed, demanding clear communication.
It had almost been the worst possible start to Liverpool’s first European Cup campaign as England’s champions for 35 years, as Adrian came charging out to the left-hand side of his area and bumped into Gomez, who was in control of a routine situation.
Immediately you knew what everyone was thinking: that wouldn’t have happened if Virgil van Dijk had been there. But the man who brings tranquillity to Liverpool’s team could be missing for the rest of the season and now it is up to those who are fit to do as the Dutchman did.
Fortunately for Klopp, who was a coiled spring throughout, the early aberration in Amsterdam did not set the tone.
It would be wrong to say it was entirely plain sailing but, for the first night without their defensive totem, Liverpool’s defence emerged with credit.
Gomez was switched on all night. He has found himself under scrutiny in the opening months of the campaign, enduring some uncomfortable moments for club and country, but this was much better, a display to remind people of his natural ability.
As encouraging as things were for the England international, he could not trump Fabinho, who would surely have had Van Dijk nodding in approval with the way he moved through the contest, barely putting a foot out of place. He showed his intentions in the 11th minute with a juddering tackle but the undisputed highlight of his compilation was the acrobatic overhead kick clearance — from underneath his crossbar — that denied Dusan Tadic and preserved Liverpool’s slender lead.
Fabinho and Gomez were helped by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, who patrolled the flanks with diligence and discipline, while the relentless work in midfield of Gini Wijnaldum made things a little easier for them.
Questions remain, of course, over Adrian — Alisson Becker’s deputy — but the one thing Klopp wanted more than anything from this tussle with Ajax was a clean sheet to settle the nerves and restore some order. In that respect, it was mission accomplished.