Defensive midfield is one of the most important positions in modern football, as Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool all proved this season.
Rodri was named Champions League Player of the Season after scoring the winner in the final against Inter Milan, and was arguably one of the top three players in City’s treble-winning campaign.
Casemiro, meanwhile, helped to transform United, taking Erik ten Hag’s side from sixth in the table in 2021/22 to third this year.
READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news as Khéphren Thuram already ‘seduced’ amid ‘direct contact’ for $19m man
READ MORE: Three things will ‘definitely’ happen to Liverpool if Man United sold to Qatar amid $6bn ‘talks’
And then, on the flip side, Liverpool saw how the struggles of Fabinho destabilized the team as a whole.
Intriguingly, though, the Reds did find a different player who was able to compete with Casemiro in the latter part of the season.
During his 10-game run in a hybrid midfield role, Trent Alexander-Arnold won possession 80 times. As per The Analyst’s David Segar, the former Real Madrid man was the only player in the Premier League who bettered that figure (89).
There was, at the same time, a marked improvement in Fabinho’s form. While he wasn’t back to his absolute best, he was certainly far closer than he had been for much of a really poor season.
And maybe part of the reason for that was that Alexander-Arnold, in conjunction with the impressive Curtis Jones (as explored here), was taking some of the ball-winning responsibility from his midfield partner.
Indeed, there had been a popular narrative that Fabinho was struggling because he was being asked to do too much in an unbalanced midfield. With the players in front of him failing to provide much resistance in counterattacking situations, he had to cover excessive ground.
Now, though, Jürgen Klopp may have remedied the problem by changing Liverpool’s system. It’s been assumed that the change was designed to get the best out of Alexander-Arnold, unlocking his full creative potential and minimizing his defensive frailties. If that was the plan, it worked a treat, as the 24-year-old was one of the outstanding players in the division across the run-in, notching seven assists in the 10 matches.
But what if the change was targeted just as much at helping Fabinho, the erstwhile ‘lighthouse’ who himself looked lost at sea?
This summer, the Brazilian looks to be at the center of a midfield gamble. After kicking off the revamp with a move for Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool has devised a five-player shortlist of Khéphren Thuram (Nice), Manu Koné (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Gabri Veiga (Celta Vigo), Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich) and Roméo Lavia (Southampton), as per The Athletic’s James Pearce.
While Koné and Lavia may be able to carry out the role long-term, none of those players really look like a viable short-term replacement for Fabinho in the side.
They’re certainly not as established as Fabinho was when he joined from Monaco as a Ligue 1 winner, Brazil international and former Champions League semifinalist back in 2018.
There seems to be a predominant emphasis instead on finding upgrades in the no.8 positions, with Klopp still regarding the 29-year-old as an ‘integral’ player for the moment according to Pearce’s report.
This certainly looks like a risk when you consider how much Fabinho struggled last season, and how much his woes cost Liverpool. The club’s fortunes will partly be in the hands of a player who appeared to be in decline for much of the campaign.
But maybe Alexander-Arnold’s excellent ball-winning contribution explains the Reds’ confidence, and maybe it will be key to the functioning of a bolstered midfield next season.