Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 357 Keita and Fabinho

Liverpool's No. 8 jersey has been waiting for a new owner since the retirement of captain Steven Gerrard.

This summer, a young man named Naby Keita entered people's field of vision.

When Liverpool officially announced that he joined the team and took over the No. 8 jersey handed over by Gerrard himself, the fans' interest in this 23-year-old young man inevitably increased.

In fact, for fans, Naby Keita's name is no stranger.

Just before he joined Liverpool, the Leipzig Red Bull (RB Leipzig), who almost wrote the "Kaiserslautern Miracle" in the Bundesliga again, was his home team.

RB Leipzig won the Bundesliga runner-up in the newly promoted season and reached the UEFA Champions League for the first time in team history. As the team's main defensive midfielder, Naby Keita was also successfully selected for the Bundesliga best team.

As early as a year ago, Liverpool had signed the Guinean player, which was definitely a victory in the transfer market at the time.

In the summer of 2017, both Barcelona and Bayern Munich wanted to sign Naby Keita of Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

Liverpool have repeatedly offered Naby Keita 7000 million pounds, but were rejected.

However, there was a £4800 million buyout clause in Keita's contract at the time, but this clause did not come into effect until July 2018, 7.

In the end, Liverpool and Naby Keita reached an agreement and activated the buyout clause in advance, and then waited for him to join the team on July 2018, 7.

Liverpool, too, were ecstatic that their manager had signed what he called the Bundesliga's 'best' player, even snubbing Brazil international Fabinho, who spent £5000m that summer. Is a defensive midfielder organization.

In the more than 300 days between announcing the signing and actually joining the team, Liverpool or Klopp's enthusiasm for Keita has not diminished.

But the answer was that it would take one year for the termination clause to take effect, but even for one year, Klopp is willing to wait!Because in his tactical system, Naby Keita is already an indispensable and important part.

From a theoretical point of view, Keita is very suitable for Klopp's system and tactical requirements.His pace and stamina allow him to enjoy a high-pressing style, which Liverpool and Leipzig both employ.

His powerful ability to regain the ball can always be the starting point for Liverpool's quick blitz, and his all-around attributes allow him to serve as one of the three midfield roles in Klopp's 433 system.

For Klopp, he is familiar with the Bundesliga and knows what kind of excellent players in the Bundesliga can play like a fish in water under his hands.

For Keita, he continued to play his own style of football in a similar system, and the teammates around him were replaced by the Red Army with a stronger team strength.
For both parties, it is really worth waiting a year for such a match!

But Zhang Mai knows Klopp's real intention. Liverpool's midfielder has his own, and the attack is completely full. Uncle Zha wants to equip himself with two mopping-up midfielders like Kanter, so that even if he doesn't play Under the circumstances, the defensive hardness of the midfielder has not diminished, and it can also have a certain degree of organization and ball delivery ability.

After a long wait, Naby Keita finally made his debut for Liverpool, who also beat West Ham 5-0.

Sky Sports reporter Adam Bate believes Keita's performance has made more of a difference to Klopp's team.

Former Liverpool central defender Carragher has made many remarks on whether the team's midfielder lacks a bit of advancement ability:
'You'd expect Naby Keita to bring something different'

He told Sky Sports:
"But there are still some problems. Besides Zhang Mai, who can hold the ball in the midfield and pass the threatening ball to the striker?"

That question was quickly answered in Liverpool's opening game of the new season.

Keita was involved in the team's first goal in the 19th minute. This goal showed that this new signing who was transferred for £5275 million can really help the team improve. Liverpool's midfield now has more Strong creativity.

Keita took possession of the ball between West Ham's defense and midfield line before delivering a beautiful through ball to Robertson...

The sole task of Liverpool's left-back is to cross the ball in front of the goal, and last season's top scorer Salah laughed directly at the far post.

Keita played a vital role in the goal here, and in OPTA statistics he was the creator of the last pass before an assist.

In the last season, the Red Army's midfield iron triangle Henderson, Wijnaldum and Milner contributed many wonderful performances to the team, but none of them tried to have the record of the last pass before an assist.

And the trio have been directly involved in only eight of Liverpool's 68 season goals.

In contrast, Keita looks like he can create more threatening opportunities for the team.

In the first hour of the game, Keita won the ball in 8 places, second only to teammate Zhang Mai.

When Firmino was replaced by Henderson in the second half, Keita began to show his flexibility.

Klopp moved him from the center of midfield to the left. "He seemed to be everywhere."

Former Liverpool midfielder Redknapp said:

"He is full of danger and is one of the main cores of the team's offense."

Many of Liverpool's current teams are full of competition in many positions, but the most important thing is that Keita can improve them all.

The arrival of Keita has given Klopp more options, unlike last season, which will be crucial for beating opponents at home.

Milner said after the game, Keita will only get better and better, this is really a perfect start.

Newcomer Keita is in demand, and Fabinho, who joined the Reds from Monaco at this time last year, is desperate for action after a season as a major substitute.

According to the "Liverpool Echo", Brazil international Fabinho expressed his desire to play in an interview.

The Brazil international was transferred at a high price of 2017 million euros in the summer of 5000, but he did not get a chance to play in the opening game of the new season.

Regarding this, Fabinho said:

"I actually did a good job preparing for the pre-season. I played in all 9 pre-season warm-up games. I feel a little surprised that I haven't played in the Premier League now, but I will remain patient."

"I am also gradually adapting to the rhythm of the Premier League. My teammates have helped a lot. Especially Firmino, he is my best friend here. As an old player, he and his family have selflessly helped. Me and Alisson."

Fabinho concluded by saying:

"I very much hope that I can get a stable chance to play in Liverpool, because the popularity of the Premier League is much higher than that of Ligue [-]. Continuing to play here is also very helpful for me to enter the Brazilian national team."

Poor Fabinho, who failed to stand out in the PK with Liverpool's six major midfielders last season, is facing competition with Keita for the starting position again this year.

Whether in the five major leagues or in the Champions League, Fabinho has rich experience and outstanding strength.

The question is, how does he compare to Liverpool's current midfield?
Of course, he had played in the Champions League semi-final a season earlier, while Liverpool's players had just played in the Champions League final.

So, how does Fabinho compare to the other five Liverpool players?What about another new signing?

1. Chamberlain:
Oxlade-Chamberlain is currently out through injury but will compete with Fabinho for a place when he returns.

Perhaps, they won't directly compete for a spot, but how do they compare?
It's clear that Chamberlain isn't a ball-scrambler, completing just 2.8 of his 1.9 steals per game.

However, Chamberlain was a much better dribbler, averaging 3.3 dribbles and 2.4 successes per game for a 73% success rate.

Of course, this is often accompanied by risks. Chamberlain averaged 3.8 turnovers and conceded 1.5 times per game.

In contrast, Fabinho is more stable, averaging only 0.6 conceded goals per game.You can see why a team needs a player like Fabinho.

Of course, Chamberlain will also play his own role. After all, Fabinho cannot average 2.1 key passes per game like Chamberlain.

So the conclusion is: they are different players with different roles
2. Milner:
Like Fabinho, Milner is a midfielder, defender, so how do they compare?
Milner is a more efficient ball grabber. He averaged 4.2 tackles per game and succeeded 3 times. He was not good at breakthroughs, averaging only 0.8 breakthroughs per game, but he passed more frequently and averaged 75.5 tackles per game. There were 65.2 passes and 1.7 successful passes, averaging [-] key passes per game.

Milner's statistics are based on stable playing time, and after Fabinho joins, Milner will play less and less next season.

Conclusion: Fabinho (Milner will still play)
3. Wijnaldum:
Dutch midfielder Wijnaldum can play as a defensive midfielder, but he prefers to play box-to-box midfield, however, if you look at the stats, you can see the problem.

Wijnaldum averaged 1.7 tackles per game and succeeded 1.3 times, with a success rate of 76%.

Wijnaldum made only 0.9 interceptions compared to Fabinho's 1.3, and it's rather odd that he fouled fewer times.

At the same time, Wijnaldum averaged 2.1 dribbles per game and succeeded 1.6 times, both of which are better than Fabinho.

Too many breakthroughs mean that Wijnaldum is more likely to be intercepted by opponents than Fabinho, which is why Klopp knows he must sign Fabinho.

In theory, it would be nice to have Wijnaldum playing a defensive midfielder, but his defensive stats prove that he is not reliable.

Conclusion: Fabinho is better

4. Henderson:
Fabinho and Henderson will compete for the defensive midfield position, although even if Fabinho wins this competition, Henderson can play in a more advanced position.

Henderson's skills allow him to have more freedom in offense, and it shows in his passing stats as well.

Henderson averaged 86.4 passes per game and completed 72.9 of them.He made 20 more passes than Fabinho.

Fabinho will play a defensive midfielder, after all, his steal data far exceeds that of Henderson.

Another advantage of Fabinho is the ability to get rid of the press. He has an average of 1.1 successful breakthroughs per game, with a breakthrough success rate of 73%, while Henderson only has 0.3 times, with a success rate of only 50%.

Verdict: Fabinho (however, Henderson could start elsewhere)
5. Keita:

This summer's new Guinea midfielder Keita.The £6000million midfielder averages 4.2 tackles per game with three successful tackles, while he makes 3 interceptions, 1.7 more than Fabinho.

In terms of confrontation, Keita is the only player who can match Fabinho. He averaged 2.8 fouls per game last season, which is a significant figure.

In terms of dribbling, Keita is not very efficient, but he is still a player willing to participate in the attack, averaging 5.5 dribbles and 3.1 successful dribbles, which is much higher than Fabinho, although it makes He also conceded more goals than the Brazilian.

Keita averaged 2.7 turnovers per game, while Fabinho only had 0.7.

Keita is an energetic and aggressive player.He is not as safe and efficient as Fabinho, but he will bring more drive, energy and creativity to the team.

This is a key reason why they will meet in Liverpool.

Conclusion: They are different players with different roles

At present, it seems that Liverpool's midfield employment is that Keita has become popular and Fabinho has lost power, and Fabinho is eager to play.

But Zhang Mai knew that today, one year later, the situation of the two of them has changed:

Naby Keita was controversial, with injuries hampering his career at Anfield; Fabinho, who is now questioned by Red Army fans, is firmly in the starting line-up.

Keita, the fourth most expensive midfielder in Premier League history, only ranked fifth among midfielders in the team in terms of playing time in all Liverpool games in the 18-19 season.

Of course, it is understandable to be ranked behind Giorginio Wijnaldum and captain Jordan Henderson. James Milner, who has returned from injury, needs more time to run in with the team It is also understandable.

But it's sad to see Fabinho, or even Xherdan Shaqiri playing more minutes than Keita.

Fabinho was a surprise instead. His situation was the exact opposite of Keita's. His chance at Anfield came later, but his subsequent performances were outstanding.

well!The success of players is never a fluke, talent, sweat and luck are indispensable!

But if Zhang Mai said something that would happen a year later, who would believe it?

(End of this chapter)