2021/22 Season Report Card - Fabinho

Spoiler alert. I gave him an 8. Am I under selling him a little here? I love Fabinho and think he’s brilliant. I would say that he had an excellent season yet I don’t think he’s been at his absolute best as consistently as I’ve come to expect. Maybe I’m just starting to take him for granted a bit? 

I think the reason I’m not going higher is because it feels like there have been a handful of games where he’s actually been really bad. It isn’t the norm and those are isolated games, but Fab seems to be one of those players who when he’s bad, he’s terrible. It doesn’t happen often and most of the time he’s great, but when he isn’t…..

Off the top of my head I remember a complete stinker away at Brentford. I think West Ham away was another bad one, and the first half at the Etihad he looked half asleep. I’m sure there were one or two others as well. I guess it shows just how high the standards he’s set are that I’m pointing out these clunkers while still giving him eight out of ten. He’s a great player, one of the most important components of the team and I’d never want to go into any big game without him.

He’s added goals to his repertoire this season too, having finally been allowed by Klopp to get himself into the box on corners. He’s got a knack of getting himself into areas where the ball will fall to him, and he’s also shown himself to be a great penalty taker. We knew that from when he was at Monaco but he’s rarely had a chance to show it here because of Milner and Salah. 

Any time he’s had the opportunity to take one though he’s looked lethal. The ‘Panenka’ in the League Cup Final was particularly memorable. He'd be my first choice penalty taker next season, especially if Mo hasn't signed his contract.

Fabinho's importance to what we've achieved can't be overstated. He's almost in the same lofty stratosphere as Alisson and Van Dijk and I tend to lump the three of them together when talking about the players that really allowed us to take that final step. His importance might grow further next season depending on what system we use. There are some suggestions we may go with a midfield two more often than we have in the past, in which case Fabinho and Thiago / Henderson are going be even more key than usual.

Previous Season Ratings:

2020/21:   Season doesn’t count

2019/20:   8/10

2018/19:   9/10

This Season’s Rating: 8/10

As I say, I might be underselling him a little here. Not worth a 9 but maybe should be 8.5.

Best Moment: 

The Panenka.

Worst Moment:

The disastrous knee slide after Konate’s goal away at Benfica. He’s lucky he didn't do himself an injury with that. 

The Future?

More of the same. He’s one of our most important (and best) players.