Fabinho has backed Trent Alexander-Arnold to make a success of his new role within the Liverpool team, pointing to his teammate’s prior experience as a midfielder in the Academy.
The No.66 has been encouraged to invert when in possession, joining our holding midfielder in a double six to utilise his passing range.
“Trent is somebody really good on the ball, with his quality of pass and finding players in behind. We can really use this,” the Brazilian told liverpoolfc.com.
“In this position, of course he will have less time to think but I think he’s a little bit used to being in this position. Even when he played right-back, he likes to drop a little bit and go to the middle.
“We can really use his quality of pass. In the last game, he gave two assists and was really good – not just with his passing but his reaction was good as well. I think in the Academy he played as a midfielder, so he knows a little bit about this role and it was not hard for him.”
Though there was no doubt something of a bedding-in period, as the Reds found out in the first-half of their 2-2 comeback against Arsenal at Anfield, it appears a masterstroke of a tweak from Jurgen Klopp with the side in pursuit of a perfect finish to the season and an unlikely Champions League spot.
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It’s worth highlight, as Fabinho does, that this doesn’t necessarily mean that Alexander-Arnold foregoes his defensive responsibilities out of possession in the interest of maximising his offensive capabilities.
Once we manage to bring in some new faces in the middle of the park too we should see a significant improvement in the level of stability across the park, with fresh legs able to safeguard the backline and plug holes when necessary whilst providing forwards with a platform to succeed.
In the meantime, Klopp deserves all the credit in the world for adapting his setup, which has since seen our right-back amass three assists in two games (half his total for the season).