Journalist David Lynch has singled out Fabinho to improve upon his performances this season for Liverpool as the side will need him over the second half of the campaign.
Lynch believes the Brazilian’s poor start to the season was down to his reluctance to put himself in any danger of missing the World Cup.
The 29-year-old has been well below the level we’ve come to expect from him, with Liverpool’s struggle epitomised by the complete loss of form of their midfield anchor.
Fabinho has been pivotal to Jurgen Klopp’s side since arriving in 2018, having helped the Reds lift the Champions League and Premier League during his time at Anfield.
However, with the winter World Cup now passed and the Reds set to get their season back underway against Manchester City in the EFL Cup this week, Lynch told the Blood Red podcast that the Brazilian needs to re-find his form now the international period is over.
Lynch said: “He had a really poor start to the season. He started to get there a little bit, but he’s spent much of the first part of the season being shouted at by Jurgen Klopp from the sidelines.
“He was getting it down the banks every week, not looking himself, not looking like he had the energy to get there.
“If he was protecting himself a little bit, you just hope over the second half of the season, he can really show his best, because Liverpool need him to as well.
“If Liverpool are going to hit the heights that they have in previous seasons, they desperately need Fabinho to rediscover his form and he’s been miles off it this season.”
TIF Thoughts on Lynch’s comments…
Fabinho has been tremendously underwhelming so far, with his 6.67 average league rating from WhoScored the 12th-highest in the Liverpool squad – a distinctively ordinary rating from a player we’ve come to expect a lot more from.
Having played 191 times in four and a half years at Anfield, the defensive midfielder has retained his place in the side, such is his importance, with 21 appearances in all competitions despite his drop in form.
Therefore, it does not appear as if Klopp is prepared to cast him aside once the season resumes. Judging by Lynch’s comments, it seems as if there is no capable senior alternative to Fabinho, so it is down to him to prove his critics wrong in the new year and beyond.