Gary Neville heaped praise on Liverpool midfielder Fabinho and claimed he was the best midfield enforcer around currently.
The pundit while explaining what West Ham star Declan Rice needs to do in order to reach the next level ended up gushing about the Brazilian in the process.
“Y’know Fabinho is absolutely sensational on the ball, Busquets is unbelievable…” said Neville (Sky Sports Premier League, 22:12, Tuesday, September 17th).
Neville then continued to talk about the Liverpool star moments later and highlighted that he was different from other midfield enforcers as he plays the ball forward and doesn’t just knock it side to side.
“Fabinho, I think at the moment Fabinho is the best (midfield enforcer) as what he does is he actually doesn’t sit back in games,” added Neville.
“There’s holding midfielders who play horizontal like this, passing sideways, but Fabinho plays vertically as well, he goes forward with his passes.
“He moves forward to step in and win the ball back, and I think the best holding midfielders are the ones who shuffle across and make it look simple as well as step into the game.”
OPINION
Neville clearly is a member of Fabinho’s fan club and it’s easy to see why. The 25-year-old may have taken a little bit of time to get up to speed after joining from Monaco last summer, but as soon as everything started clicking for him, he hasn’t looked back. Fabinho has featured in all five of the Reds’ Premier League outings so far this season, averaging a solid rating of 7.00 on WhoScored, and has even managed to rack up an assist. It’s not Fabinho’s job to create chances for the Reds’ front-line, yet he doesn’t seem content just dominating the midfield for Jurgen Klopp’s side. The 25-year-old has averaged 54.40 passes per game across his league outings and has impressively won 62% of his tackles (Source: Premier League). Fabinho has also registered five interceptions and has won 50% of his duels. With stats like this, it’s easy to see why Neville not only rates him but it shows what an important piece of the puzzle he is for Klopp.
