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Klopp giving Fabinho 'half a year' as he needs time to adapt

Cape Town - Jurgen Klopp has played down fears of a problem with Brazilian Fabinho, who is yet to feature for Liverpool this season.

The 24-year-old former Fluminense, Rio Ave and Real Madrid loanee joined the Reds from Monaco in July 2018.

He has played roughly a minute for the club as a substitute in the 3-2 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain but is yet to appear in the Premier League - making the bench for three games this season.

Klopp says Fabinho is still getting used to Liverpool's playing style as he considers him for the League Cup clash with Chelsea on Wednesday.

Klopp was reported as saying: "It's not different between him and other players. It's really not complicated, he just needs to get used to it.

"It's about positioning, it's about reaction, about spaces defensively, closing them, offensively using them.

"It's a football team with a specific way of playing. It needs time, and they were all used to other football teams. So, you have natural runs in a team.

"Like, let me say, a very famous movement here was Phil Coutinho. Half left, inside, nice shot! For this one, you needed somebody to overlap and make it difficult to defend, so that one defender at least is busy. Things like that explain it. It's completely normal.

"There's no time to say, 'I give you that, or that', but it will happen. Because the game is so quick and intense, it needs to get natural. It's not about changing these players, we want their football personality. They are here because of what they did.

"Three- or five-weeks sound like a long time in football, but to improve something you can give half a year, to really make the next step. That's it."

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