FABINHO aiming for a second title
FABINHO ON PLUGGING THE DEFENSIVE GAP LEFT BY VAN DIJK, LIFE WITH FOOTBALLER WIFE REBECA AND LIVERPOOL’S BID FOR MORE PREMIER LEAGUE GLORY . . .
AT LIVERPOOL they have a nickname for their Brazilian midfielder- cumdefender Fabinho. They call him Flaco and it translates from Spanish to English as ‘ skinny’. It fits, but so does another suggestion.
What about Virgil? ‘That’s funny because some of my friends have joked about that,’ said Fabinho this week. ‘Recently they sent me a montage they made. It was Virgil’s hair and my face.’
Fabinho is laughing but he takes the point. Liverpool’s defence of their Premier League title was said to be over the moment Virgil van Dijk damaged a knee at Everton in October. Things got even worse when Joe Gomez did similar while training with England.
But here we are at Christmas. Liverpool are top of the league and unbeaten domestically since the remarkable 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa that came a week before Van Dijk’s injury. One of the reasons for that is the form of the 27-year-old smiling into a Zoom camera from his club’s new training base.
Fabinho has transitioned from central midfield to central defence so seamlessly that it has occasionally been possible to forget that Van Dijk is not there.
But it is not an accident that, despite having hardly any competitive experience of the position, he has performed so well.
It turns out the planning has been going on almost from the day he arrived on Merseyside in summer 2018. ‘ Back then the coach saw the need for someone to be available, so I started working on that position, getting used to it, working with potential partners,’ revealed Fabinho.
‘We had three centre backs at the time, so it was all just a test for me, to be prepared. The coach had identified that there could be a need further down the line.
‘So when I came in I felt good and comfortable and over time it’s got easier. When Virgil got injured I expected to come in as centre back and even the other players were joking. They were saying, “Fabinho the defender is back, he is here”. I was nervous at first but I have grown into it.’
Fabinho has previously described Van Dijk as the ‘best defender in the world’ and the ‘leader of our team’. He does not back away from those statements now.
‘Virgil is the one player you don’t want or expect to be injured,’ he said. ‘Last season he played in all 38 league games. He is never tired, never injured and the one you can always rely on. He really is the leader and when you lose someone of those qualities, it’s a shock.
‘We were just shaking our heads at the time and didn’t want to admit it was true. I remember hearing the reports and hoping they were false.’
With that in mind, the task of replacing him was significant. By his own admission, Fabinho is not a natural leader, but he has had to step up.
With Gomez also missing and Joel Matip sporadically absent, Fabinho has become the senior defender, alongside young players such as Nat Phillips, Neco Williams and even, at Fulham recently, club skipper Jordan Henderson.
None of this has derailed Liverpool and, although Fabinho stresses his progress has not always been as serene rene as it has appeared, it has received ceived endorsehimself. endorsement from the man himself.
‘When I first came e to Liverpool I identified the areas as I needed to improve and I watched hed Joel Matip in terms of defending,’ ng,’ he recalled. ‘I have talked and d learned from him. But then this season I played in defence with Virgil rgil at Chelsea and he gave me pointers about positioning and things. ngs.
‘Immediately after r his injury, he didn’t say too much h but after a few games he sent me a message cond congratulating me and saying I was playing well. That was great to hear. Now I just want ant to be able to watch his game and pick up things I should be doing, particularly partice the passes he makes.
‘He is the best in his position so it’s important that hat I look to his game.’
The statistics show how Fabinho and Van Dijk are very different types of defenders. Fabinho scores highly on blocks, interceptions and tackles while Van Dijk is all about headers and quick recovery runs and sprints. The perfect defensive partnership one day, then? ‘Well, we hope he returns soon and has a perfect recovery,’ said Fabinho with a smile. ‘ He makes a real difference
in the dressing room and will get his position straight back. ‘i don’t know what the coach will do but i am sure Virgil will go straight into defence and i will go to midfield. ‘ i hope that’s as soon as possible.’
FaBiO henrique tavares was on the books as a youth at the great sao Paulo club Fluminense. he then spent some time on loan at real Madrid, so he knows what a big club feels like and how much it expects of its players.
he said in the summer that last year’s Premier League title win means Jurgen Klopp’s team will ‘ always be remembered’. equally, he understands what a back- to- back success would mean.
‘yes this team will be remembered for how well we play, the quality of our football and for winning the title,’ said Fabinho.
‘But to fight for the second one would put us further into football history. it would put us up there with teams in the Premier League who have won back-to-back titles. teams like Manchester city.
‘it would put us on the higher level and with the best teams in the history of the league.
‘taking into account everything that has happened this year, the difficulties of no fans in the stadiums and the busy run of fixtures and injuries we have had, it all adds to making the second title more special than the first one if we could do it.’
this campaign has not been an easy one for anybody in the Premier League and the defending champions have certainly had their issues.
tomorrow they face West Brom at anfield having not played since the 7-0 dismantling of crystal Palace a week ago.
apart from international breaks, that is the longest Liverpool have gone without a fixture since the second week of september.
Klopp has made his feelings known about some of the tV scheduling he feels has contributed to his squad’s problems with muscle injuries and Fabinho has suffered from the curse himself, pulling a hamstring against Midtjylland in the champions League in October.
‘ When a team are playing in all competitions, we know it will be intense,’ he explained. ‘We expect it, but this year more so. the coach is just positioning and fighting to protect the players’ health.
‘We play on a Wednesday night and then a saturday morning, so it’s logical that we don’t want things to be made worse. it’s not that we want an advantage, just not to be worse.
‘it’s reasonable that you (the league) try to protect players’ health and support teams playing in europe. you also have to consider what a long injury list we’ve had. so tha that’s what the coach is doing.
‘as p players we love playing game after game. But sometimes we don’t t think about — or we forget — our need for rest. that’s the manag manager’s job and he brings in the chang changes when needed.
‘he h has all the experience as he has b been in similar situations before before. he is trying to protect us.’
Fabin Fabinho was signed by Liverpool from M Monaco two days after their champ champions League final defeat by real M Madrid in May 2018. there was in interest from both Manchester ter clubs clu but it was Liverpool who showe showed him the love.
havi having played as a right back for a sign significant chunk of his career, the Br Brazilian has slowly emerged as one of the best holding midfield player players in world football.
he s started this season telling himse himself he must shoot more, encou encouraged by a spectacular long-r long-range goal against Palace after last season had emerged from it its spring lockdown.
circu circumstances have changed that b but he has not forgotten it. in h his head he remains a midfi midfield player. a at the home he shares with wi wife rebeca on the Wirral, th there is plenty of football talk. rebeca was a player of note herself and represented M Monaco. now retired, she has said ‘ my dreams have come true in Fabinho’s feet’. Fabinho smiles. ‘ she has a history in football but knows me, so avoi avoids commenting on the game when i come in after a match.
‘she waits for me to ask because i may not react very positively if i am no not happy with how i have played played. she will usually wait before she sa says anything.
‘her favourite player was ronaldinho, inho, s so it’s very difficult for me to get anywhere an near her idol. But in my po position and with my qualities i do m my best to come close to being her fav favourite player!’
a Br Brazilian christmas is celebrated brated on December 24. ‘ Usually with a table full of food and lots of singin singing,’ said Fabinho.
this christmas eve found Fabinh Fabinho at work. he stresses that versat versatility has long been a strong point, but it is clear his recent succes success out of position has come from h hard graft and preparation as much as anything.
this interview was conducted with F Fabinho speaking his native Portug Portuguese but his english is more than passable. p indeed, two words of his a adopted language do tumble out w when it is put to him that playin playing at centre back is easier than m midfield anyway.
‘not really,’ he said, with a puff of the ch cheeks.
it se seems likely that when Van Dijk d does return, he will find his first-te first-team shirt ready and waiting on its peg.