Jürgen Klopp nicknames Fabinho after 'unbelievable' Spurs display
Fabinho’s ‘unbelievable’ performance against Tottenham Hotspur earned the midfielder a new nickname from Jürgen Klopp.
Liverpool’s No.3 put in a colossal, Man of the Match display to help drive his team from a goal down to beat Spurs 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday.
And that led the manager to come up with an inventive metaphor to sum up his influence on the Reds’ latest Premier League success.
“You saw it, both wings were so strong with the triangles we created there: with Sadio, Robbo and Gini on one side, with Hendo, Mo and Trent on the other side,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
“And then ‘Dyson’ in the centre, who was there for each ball defensively – what a game he played, unbelievable! Connecting with Bobby in the centre… I love the game, to be honest.
“I said to the boys after the game that I didn’t expect it that good, to be honest, before the game. I thought we are ready to show up a little bit again after being away [from Anfield] on tour for a little while, after Leicester I think – that feels long ago.
“But that was exceptionally good, and necessary because Tottenham was here today to get three points. The way they set up, line-up-wise offensively, really offensive, but set-up-wise just compact and organised and the counter-attacks are incredible.
“I have to say that’s really tough to defend and apart from twice we did it really well so I am really happy.”
Klopp’s side produced a stirring response to overturn a deficit inflicted by Harry Kane’s first-minute opener, with second-half goals from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah completing the comeback.
The boss continued: “Super game, I loved it. LFC at its best with all the circumstances, being 1-0 down so early, but picking up the game immediately again. Game on, come on. The crowd was there, really high intense football, high intense atmosphere, I really love that.
“You cannot win against Tottenham when they are set up like they were today, in the situation they are, with passing here a little bit, passing there a little bit. You have to be really spot on from the first second.
“We were spot on from the first second, we lost one ball in the midfield, what can happen. We have usually enough players behind the ball but they score that goal, but I didn’t see any influence, apart from that we kick-started again and really [it was a] super game, absolutely incredible.”