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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Connor Dunn

How Fabinho could fit into Liverpool's 'ideal midfield' with Jordan Henderson solution found

There has been a lot of debate this season about who should start in Liverpool's midfield.

Jurgen Klopp appears to have a tried and trusted trio in his engine room in the form of Jordan Henderson , Gini Wijnaldum and James Milner .

However, the argument about who should start in the centre of the park has been fuelled by the rise of new recruit Fabinho while the early form of Xherdan Shaqiri , flashes of brilliance from £50million-man Naby Keita and occasional trust from the manager in Adam Lallana has seen fans divided over who makes up the starting XI.

In the Reds most recent match against Tottenham, this was no different.

Klopp picked his three generals in the engine room leaving many to firstly question why the excellent Fabinho had been left on the bench.

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Despite the relief and elation of the last-gasp win , there remains an overriding thought amongst some supporters about why Klopp continues to select a midfield that consists of players that seem defensive, and limited, in an attacking sense.

That prompted the ECHO to do an article looking at The reasons Jurgen Klopp keeps picking Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum as the Liverpool midfield which drew sensible conclusions over why Fabinho sometimes misses out.

The reasons Jurgen Klopp keeps picking Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum as the Liverpool midfield

This in turn prompted hundreds of Liverpool fans to get in touch and give their opinion on who should start in the midfield with many suggesting captain Jordan Henderson should start alongside the Brazilian while others highlighted the England player's virtues.

One wrote: "The ideal midfield is Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum. If Fabinho is deployed in a deeper role, Henderson can venture forward and he has shown the same when played together with Fabinho."

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Another scribed: "I think Henderson's recovery pace is greater compared to Fabinho's.

"He is a bit more disciplined than Fabinho, which reduces the chances of the opposition starting a counter-attack on us.

"If you look at how Fabinho played away at Arsenal, Manchester City, and Tottenham, he can't play as a lone holding midfielder. He will significantly expose our defense.

"He needs to play alongside another dedicated holding midfielder.

"The balance can be created by having a true number 10 ahead of the two holding midfielders. Because most of the time, Fabinho will play as a number 8 and not 6."

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While a third said: "You won’t appreciate Henderson unless you go and see a game and see the work he puts in."

Another added: "Fabinho gets stranded up field quiet a lot giving the ball a way and not protecting the defence which is his job. And the first goal on Sunday Henderson played a cross field ball to Robertson to set the goal up."

And a fifth penned: "Henderson balances the midfield and the score."

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