Liverpool star Fabinho spoke to the Brazilian media following the 1-0 win over Ajax in the Champions League last night.
The 27-year-old covered a couple of interesting topics in the chat with his country’s press, and the first of them was a perceived attack from Jurgen Klopp towards national team manager Tite.
When Fabinho was injured a month ago, the Reds boss was asked if he’d then be unavailable for the national team, and claimed that Tite wouldn’t need to worry as ‘he never plays him’.
His quotes caused a big fuss in the Brazilian media, even though the national team manager played it down and didn’t answer back. Now when quizzed about it, Fabinho insisted he ‘can’t control’ what Klopp says in the press.
“Klopp had a hot reaction there. He’s always very angry when a player gets injured,” Fabinho told Esporte Interativo.
“He had this question about the national team and he answered that way. I can’t control what my coach says, he’s already an older guy, he knows the responsibility of what he says.
“As I said, being with the national team is one of my goals. I will always fight to be there, to be participating. I don’t know if I’m going to play, but I will always strive to be there and to help in the best way.”
“Eu não posso controlar o que meu treinador fala!” 😂 Se liga no que o Fabinho falou, com exclusividade para @fredcaldeira, sobre declaração de Klopp a respeito de Tite e jogar na posição de zagueiro! E aí, concorda com ele? #CasaDaChampions pic.twitter.com/GOppjYeVoW
— Esporte Interativo (de 🏠) (@Esp_Interativo) December 2, 2020
Fabinho also spoke about his positioning at Liverpool. Due to the Reds’ injury crisis, he’s been spending most of the season playing as a central defender instead of in midfield.
The Brazilian claims that Klopp has been preparing him for this job for a long time, and now he’s ready when the defence needs him most.
“My debut as a defender was here at Liverpool. I think two years ago. And since then I always do some training, especially when one or two injuries occur. To be used to it. We never know when we will need it, and I hope we never need it, that we don’t have so many injuries. But the coach has already prepared this since my first season here.
“From then on, the times I played it was a little easier, I was a little more used to it. Communication with the other defenders was always very important, I always tried to learn a lot from the other defenders too. Now my companion has been Joel Matip, the communication with him works very well. Not only with him, with the players around me there, which is always important. It’s a delicate situation about injuries at the club, so I’ve been playing in that position lately. I’m here to help and that’s it.”
