Jurgen Klopp admits he is not happy about Fabinho’s lack of playing time.
Fabinho has yet to make a competitive appearance for Liverpool since completing a £43.7 million move from Monaco over the summer.
The Brazilian midfielder missed the Reds’ opening Premier League win over West Ham due to a slight injury concern but has remained unused since.
Klopp has compared Fabinho’s current situation to those of Andy Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during their own debut campaigns at Anfield.
But the Liverpool manager also reaffirmed that the 25-year-old will play a vital long-term role in his plans despite failing to feature in the first four games.
“I don’t like to compare players but we had similar questions and similar things to talk about around Robbo, about Oxlade,” said Klopp.
“The thing is, it’s absolutely no problem [but] I don’t like the situation.
“It’s not that I like to say Fabinho is full of energy, desire, wants to be involved and all that stuff, and [I] tell him ‘you are not involved this weekend’.
“That’s not nice but it’s only the job to do sometimes because we have worked together much longer.
“He comes from another league, a completely different system which Monaco played to us and we have a good team together so that takes time.
“But the plan was – and is still – that he will make us better, and that’s what we are working on. Sometimes that needs more time and sometimes a bit less.
“From my point of view, it’s all fine but I know the situation is not like maybe a few people would have expected. Sorry, I cannot change that.”