It would be hard to find any positives from Liverpool’s dismal defeat to Leeds at Anfield on Saturday night and Noel Whelan has singled out one Reds star in particular for his performance.
Players like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were well below par against Jesse Marsch’s side, but it is Brazilian midfielder Fabinho who has come under fire from Noel Whelan.
The former Leeds striker claimed the No. 3’s legs seem to be gone and called his performances so far this season “horrendous”.
“Fabinho was way off the pace and Klopp was clearly not happy with him,” Whelan told Football Insider. “There was that furious exchange in the first half and he was constantly pointing out where the midfielders should be.
“I’m surprised he didn’t take Fabinho off at half-time, to be honest. He was so bad. He couldn’t cope with the energy and dynamism of Leeds, who had a proper chance at Liverpool and made the most of their win. Klopp would have destroyed him in the locker room at the break.
“The fact that he took him out after an hour, as well as Harvey Elliott, tells you everything about what I thought about Liverpool’s midfield and how there was too much space for Leeds to play.
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“Fabinho has been a brilliant player for Liverpool but this season he has been terrible, a shadow of his former self.
“He’s not that old, he’s not even 30, but I’m thinking, ‘Your legs seem to have gone.’ The decline could be terminal.”
The ex-Monaco man’s performance may have been lackluster as he received a ‘touch-up’ from his boss during the first half, but most of his team-mates were sub-par too as we suffered our fourth loss in the league of the season after just 12 games.
The 29-year-old is a vitally important part of our team with the protection he (generally) offers our defense and his ability to stifle dangerous-looking attacks from the opposition.
After coming so close to completing a glorious quad last season, our decline is extremely concerning.
It’s not just two or three of Klopp’s team that are struggling, it feels like the group as a whole and if we don’t sort things out soon this campaign could prove to be very disappointing.
We did very well against Manchester City earlier this month, but apart from that, it’s hard to remember the last time we played well and really dominated a game.
However, it is only October and thankfully there is a long way to go in the campaign and we have already booked our place in the Champions League round of 16.
The sooner Fabinho returns to his best level, the better.
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