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After a crushing 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in last year’s Champions League final, a big summer awaited a Liverpool side who were clearly just a few players away from becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The supporters were in a terrible mood. Loris Karius’ reputation was in tatters. Everything seemed bleak.
However, just three days after the crushing defeat to Los Blancos, a key cog arrived at Anfield.
Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…
Brazilian international Fabinho was signed in a deal worth £43.7m, and immediately provided the Reds with the steely bite their midfield was sorely lacking.
All you need to do is take a look at the three players that Jurgen Klopp started last year’s final with.
Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum.
All three are very much the same player in some respects; hard working, decent but not exactly spectacular in possession and not exactly huge physical presences in the middle of the park either.
In stark contrast, 6 ft 2 Fabinho is certainly a dominant figure in there, and is by no means just a lump; he has excellent technique that goes unnoticed by many.
When the Reds walk out of the Wanda Metropolitano tunnel, they should feel confidence coursing through their veins almost immediately thanks to the No.3’s presence in the side; even more so given the fact that a player like the Brazilian is what Tottenham will be sorely missing.
They sold the only real player of Fabinho’s ilk back in January when they allowed Mousa Dembele to go to China, and have just Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier to somewhat mirror what the former Monaco man brings to Liverpool.
Dier and Wanyama, however, are nowhere near as good as Fabinho. They are very limited from a technical aspect and are also extremely injury prone.
Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield will probably consist of Christian Eriksen, Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko on Saturday, and none of them are the midfield destroyers that all successful teams need; names such as Casemiro – who was crucial in last year’s final – and Fernandinho spring to mind.
