Jürgen Klopp has been handed a major Liverpool midfield boost thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold

When Fabinho joined Liverpool from AS Monaco back in 2018, it didn’t take long for him to establish himself as his team’s new holding midfield presence. The Brazilian was labeled as a ‘lighthouse’ by Pep Lijnders, Jürgen Klopp’s assistant, due to his ability to offer calmness amid the storm that surrounded him.

Fabinho has been the ultimate fire extinguisher for the Reds over the past five years. It has been his responsibility to nullify opposition counter-attacks before they truly materialize, with the South American becoming known for his aggression, anticipation and precision timing when attempting to regain the ball.

This term, however, he appears to have almost fallen off a cliff with his performances. For reasons which have baffled supporters, he’s painted himself as a 35-year-old player who is over the hill rather than one who is still just 29 years old and should still technically be able to perform at the highest level, though the last few weeks have seen a much-needed improvement in performance.

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The Liverpool number three was dropped to the bench for a number of matches in a row earlier this season, with Klopp placing his faith in teenager Stefan Bajčetić. Despite his youthful age, the Spanish youngster showcased exactly what Fabinho had been lacking.

Fabinho’s decline appeared to be stark, to such an extent that Klopp would have surely considered signing a replacement this summer. He simply looked past his best but over the past two months, he’s looked somewhat recharged and re-energized due to a specific tactical change.

At the beginning of April, Klopp instructed his players to adopt a new-look 3-2-5 shape with possession. 4-3-3 remained on the defensive side of the game but with the ball, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was encouraged to make inverted movements into the middle of the park to play next to Fabinho as a partner.

Once doing so, left-back Andy Robertson would tuck inside to become a third center-back with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, with number eights Curtis Jones and Jordan Henderson allowed to push higher up the field due to the double pivot of Fabinho and Alexander-Arnold.

Those four players have almost formed a box shape in midfield over the past two months, and since the switch, Liverpool hasn’t lost a single game from a possible nine, picking up an impressive seven wins. Many players have benefited including Alexander-Arnold and Jones, but Fabinho has been another.

“My role doesn’t change very much,” he told Football Daily this week. “Trent is a top player, it was easy for him to adapt. He played as a midfielder in the academy. He knows a bit about the area. You don’t have much time to think, you have players right on your back. But his adaptation to the new tactics is pretty good. He’s been one of our best players since the change and he’s helping the team.”

Fabinho is almost downplaying the impact of the tactical tweak in reference to his own game, but it has certainly aided his ability to contribute. Since the 3-2-5 was embraced, the Brazilian international has been part of a midfield quartet with Alexander-Arnold, Jones and Henderson. He’s been given support by his teammates and as a result, he’s had to cover less ground.

Klopp has provided him with a greater platform to extinguish fires, and it has improved his performances. With the campaign finally due to conclude this weekend, Liverpool has nothing to play for, but Fabinho has shown enough over the past few weeks to show why he will remain at Anfield next term, and he’s got Alexander-Arnold to thank.