It's difficult to comprehend that the Brazilian was once a right-back and was even hesitant to play as a midfielder.
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Fabinho has been a key part of Liverpool’s success since joining the club from AS Monaco in the summer of 2018. He has been an ever-present in Jurgen Klopp’s system since his arrival. Sitting in front of the backline, Fabinho is one of the best holding midfielders in the world currently. He has been difficult for opponents to get past and has helped the team survive several tricky moments in the defensive third. Fabinho’s near-perfect passing is also a key attribute to his game. It’s difficult to comprehend that the Brazilian was once a right-back and was even hesitant to play as a midfielder.
His career could have easily gone in a different direction had he not trusted his former coach at Monaco, Leonardo Jardim. “He was a very important coach in my career,” Fabinho explained to FourFourTwo magazine in a recent interview. “My first season with him at Monaco [2014-15], I still mainly played as a full-back, but then in a few games he started pushing me into midfield. I remember him asking me during pre-season if I’d ever played in that position and I told him I had, so he played me there in a friendly and I was the best player on the pitch.”
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He added: “Then, before the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Jardim called me for a chat and told me, ‘Listen, I’ve signed Djibril Sidibe to play in your role – from now on, I want you to play as a defensive midfielder.’ Considering my situation with the national team, plus the smaller pool of top-quality full-backs, I thought it was a negative change.
“It was tough. Everybody knew me as a full-back and I was a regular for the national team there – my agents, and I suppose me to begin with, weren’t happy at all with the situation. I accepted the challenge because I knew I could adapt. Looking back, though, that was a life-changing moment. Jardim helped me a lot, and that season we won the Ligue 1 title and reached the Champions League semi-finals. I was in the form of my life and ended up moving to Liverpool as a midfielder. It definitely proved to be the right decision.”
Barring a small period at the start of his Liverpool career, Fabinho has adapted well to Jurgen Klopp’s system. Be it in possession or not, the Brazilian has always done his job impressively well for the Reds.
When asked about his status, Fabinho said, “It’s more than I could have imagined when I started back home in Brazil, but I don’t give too much thought to it – because the most important thing for me is to help my team achieve the results we want and convert them into trophies.”
“Ultimately, that’s what’s going to make a fan remember you in the future: ‘You know when Liverpool won the Champions League? Fabinho was part of it.’”
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