Last week was the first time where I’ve seen him put in a performance where I thought ‘wow, this looks like a top player’
Gary Neville on Liverpool star Fabinho
Gary Neville admits he thought at times Fabinho may not have what it takes to adapt to the Premier League.
But he says the game against United showed the Brazilian is more than capable of doing so.
“I shouldn’t have been surprised at how Jurgen Klopp has introduced him,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“It was a stuttering start. For someone who you’ve paid a lot of money for, he didn’t play a lot in sort of the first nine or two matches of the season.
Liverpool news: Neville says the Man Utd victory was Fabinho's best performance for the Reds (Image: SKY SPORTS)
Liverpool news: Fabinho helped his side beat Man Utd 3-1 (Image: GETTY)
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“But he’s played six out of the last eight and I have to say it felt like that game against Manchester United last Sunday was almost like an arrival.
“It was almost like he stamped his mark on the team, it was the most me impressed me.
“He got a little bit of criticism a few games ago against Arsenal when he didn’t do that well. I wondered whether he would adapt to the pace.
“But last week against Manchester United he was fantastic.
“What I liked about him was sometimes you see defensive midfield players play horizontally, they shuffle across horizontally, they pass horizontally.
Liverpool news: Fabinho arrived from Monaco in the summer window (Image: GETTY)
“He actually moved up the pitch, he was up with the game, backing up at the edge of the box, he was playing passes through, obviously the first goal, his pass was absolutely fantastic that cut United open.
“So last week was the first time where I’ve seen him put in a performance where I thought ‘wow, this looks like a top player’.
“Obviously we know he’s been a top player but you just think ‘is he going to settle into this Liverpool team?’.
“It looked like a slow start but now it looks like he’s sort of delivering what Jurgen Klopp thought he wanted him to.”