DBasia.news – Fabinho admitted that he did not mind if he had to replace Virgil van Dijk, who was absent due to an ACL injury.
Virgil van Dijk’s absence made the Liverpool squad lame, especially in defense. This forced manager Jurgen Klopp to rack his brains to overcome the thin stock of central defenders. Luckily they still have Fabinho.
As a result, Liverpool were able to defend well against Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday (22/10) in the morning WIB. On this occasion, Fabinho appeared solid with Joe Gomez.
“When I found out that Virgil was out for a long time, I was a little surprised, because I thought he was the best center-back in the world,” said Fabinho as quoted by Goal.
Fabinho explained his approach in replacing Van Dijk. He’s just trying to do what Van Dijk used to do, but in his own way and style.
“Van Dijk is the leader of the team. He always maintains a good atmosphere in the dressing room, a positive atmosphere, and of course we miss that. However, we have to go on. We have to try to do our best and win games, also for him,” he explained.
Overcoming Van Dijk’s long absence is not an easy problem, Fabinho admits that he is not equal to Van Dijk. However, at least he was able to complete the task well.
“Speaking of tactics, I must always be ready to welcome the long ball, try to manage the team. It’s not easy, but I have to do what Virgil is used to and talk to the team, try to be a leader,” said Fabinho.
“Of course I am not Virgil, but I will try to do my best,” he concluded.