Fabio Carvalho might have only joined Liverpool a few short months ago, but has played in a number of positions for the Reds since joining from Fulham in the summer.
Making 13 appearances for the club so far, Jurgen Klopp has predominantly utilised him either on the left of his front three or in central-midfield, though a switch to a 4-4-2 formation in recent weeks has seen him used on both flanks. Meanwhile, he even started as a ‘false nine’ in Liverpool ’s final pre-season friendly against Strasbourg back in July.
This shouldn’t be a surprise, given his new manager waxed lyrical about the Portugal Under-21s international’s versatility when signing him in the first place.
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“Fabio, wow, what a season he played with Fulham. Getting promoted (with a) football-playing (style),” Klopp told the club’s official website . “Properly football-playing, it’s not easy so Marco Silva obviously did an incredible job there.
“A big part of that was absolutely Fabio. When we watched him it was a pure joy to watch him, absolutely. He can play so many different positions for us, the way we play.
“At the minute he’s not really set on one position – it’s the wing, it’s the eight, it’s the 10, it’s the false nine if he grows a few more muscles.
“It’s a short-term and a long-term project; he can start tomorrow and he needs to adapt, you can see that a little bit, but when he has the ball that’s proper quality. I’m over the moon that he’s here. Fantastic prospect.”
With six of his appearances coming on the left, four coming central and a couple a mixture of the two, the 20-year-old understandably remains not set in a position as he continues to find his feet both at Anfield and back in the Premier League. As a result, playing in the first place inevitably means more to him than nailing down a specific role at this time.
“Either left-hand side or maybe in the middle of the park as a 10,” Carvalho told Viaplay when asked his preferred position. “But we don’t really play with a 10 here. As long as I’m playing, that’s all that matters to be fair.”
Liverpool’s lack of number 10 might have played its part in the Portuguese’s diplomatic answer, truth be told. While Klopp has used him on the left-hand side more than not, only one of his 44 senior appearances for Fulham actually came in such a role, according to Transfermarkt .
Instead, the majority of his football came playing as a number 10 for the Cottagers, as he returned six goals and five assists from 29 matches in such a role with all but one of those outings occurring in Fulham’s promoting-winning season last year. Meanwhile, he is also credited with five goals and three assists from 10 games as a number eight, and also scored on his full Premier League debut for the West Londoners in a rare appearance when playing upfront.
Given Liverpool’s inconsistent start to the season in the face of an ever-growing injury list, it should be no surprise that Carvalho has enjoyed an up and down start to life at Anfield. He is just turned 20 after all and adapting at an elite club after returning to the Premier League.
Finding himself in and out of the Reds’ starting XI and utilised in a number of differing roles, including one he boasts limited senior experience in before, it’s understandably not been plain sailing for the youngster. Meanwhile, he was substituted at half-time in both of his first two Premier League starts for the club, before lasting either side of the hour-mark in his two most recent domestic outings.
Yet he is admittedly finding his feet on the job and has perhaps been turned to more than Klopp originally envisaged thanks to injuries elsewhere. As a result, while he has shown glimpses of his talent, including scoring against both AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United, he had also struggled for rhythm at times after being thrown in somewhat at the deep end.
Looking at Carvalho and his outings for Liverpool so far, it’s clear that he can be groomed into a long-term number eight or a successful left-winger - though admittedly not one in the same mould as Luis Diaz. He could even be centre-forward if, as Klopp says, ‘he grows a few more muscles’.
Yet one thing is also clear from this Reds ‘long-term project’. As he flits in and out of games and, at times, finds himself bullied by physical opponents, he is very much more suited to that number 10 role that he already knows so well.
It is perhaps telling that Klopp didn’t seem to play Carvalho there in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Ajax after introducing him in place of Harvey Elliott. Having started in a diamond formation with Roberto Firmino behind Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez in attack, a tactical tweak after such substitutions instead saw the 20-year-old fielded more towards the left.
By opting to keep the Portuguese out of that familiar, favoured role, it perhaps points to the German thinking more long-term than short-term when it comes to the former Fulham man.
After all, Liverpool only turned to the diamond system in the first place because that aforementioned ever-growing list of injuries resulted in them adapting their already new-look 4-4-2 formation. Long-term, it should be no surprise if they attempt to relaunch their tried and trusted 4-3-3 set-up, however, when their squad rediscovers its depth, confidence and form.
Yet if the diamond is here to stay, in the short-term at least, then it is perhaps the best formation to get Carvalho's feet firmly under the table in his favoured role. The Reds might not have really played with a 10 before, ultimately since selling Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in January 2018, but that could be about to change following on from their 3-0 win away at Ajax.
But with the forward yet to play in the position that helped earn him his move to Liverpool in the first place, it does suggest Klopp is thinking more long-term and offers a hint as to what he does, and doesn’t, plan to do with both Carvalho and the Reds’ formation in the future.
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