Carle stunned Sky Blues supporters by agreeing to a lucrative one-year deal with Pro League outfit Bani Yas SC on the eve of the season start, a move which opened the door for Alessandro Del Piero to join Sydney FC.

But if that decision came out of left field so has Czech coach Jozef Chovanec’s penchant for utilising the Aussie playmaker out wide.

Carle says it allows the team to exploit his celebrated pace, a tongue-in-cheek response to the “one tricky bit” in an otherwise seamless transition to life in Abu Dhabi.

Once again the 31-year-old, often accused of more craft than graft, finds himself trying to mould his considerable talents to the needs of a team.

“It’s obviously a different position to what I’m accustomed to,” Carle told au.fourfourtwo.com. “I’ve always played centrally, up front or in the middle of the park somewhere – I’ve never been known as a winger.

"It’s definitely not a position that suits my attributes. Obviously I feel a lot more settled in the middle of the park.

"I’ve played three games out wide and three games in the middle and enjoyed the middle a lot more.

“I’ve definitely felt like I’ve done a lot better once I’ve played in the middle of the park either as an 8 or a 10 but from a player’s perspective you do whatever your coach and team wants and needs you to do.”

That aside, life is otherwise good – laid back even. Carle added: “I miss back home but I’ve got the family here now and I’m well settled and it’s an absolutely beautiful place.”

Bani Yas (also known as the Sky Blues) have got off to a flyer, thanks in part to a favourable draw, and now sit top of the table in search of their first piece of silverware in 20 years.

The change room is a tight knit group, there is plenty of quality in the squad and the temperature has dipped from the stifling mid-40s on his arrival to the low 30s, suiting the attacking style of Emirati football.

Carle who has played in Turkey and the UK said it is one of two defining features of the local game.

“All countries have their own way of playing and I think what I’ve found here it’s a lot more based on attack,” he said. “I think people are willing to go forward more.

“If you just look at the results, you get lots of games that are 5-1, 6-1, 4-0. The game seems to be based more on attacking and I think that’s a massive difference to everywhere I’ve been.

“A lot of other places 1-0 or 2-0 is a very good result. You don’t get many of those here.”

The other characteristic is a lack of ambition among local players to travel abroad, a marked difference to the growing number of Socceroos - skipper Lucas Neill, Alex Brosque, Mark Bresciano, Matthew Spiranovic and Sasa Ognenovski – who have arrived in the Middle East after well-travelled careers.

“I don’t think there’s that great appeal of Europe,” Carle said. “With the facilities, funding, lifestyle – they really do have a lot going for them so it makes it difficult to pull them away.

“They have great little stadiums, good training fields and in terms of lifestyle there’s beautiful beaches and everything is so laid back.

“For a player to go over to Europe you would have to earn a massive salary to match what he’s earning here. They’d have to get out of their comfort zone and it’s such a good life here, there’s not that ambition on their part to go over there.

“I have spoken to a few players who are interested in trying a different lifestyle but it’s a hard region to come out of because, when we’re talking about someone earning a very good tax-free salary, going somewhere else and having to earn a lesser wage - it’s a difficult decision.”

There is no doubt the arrival of Carle’s young family on the Arabian Peninsula a month ago has helped the Sydneysider settle at his new club. They have a home of sorts in a hotel suite provided by the club until one of the adjacent villas becomes available.

With access to all the hotel facilities, pool, nearby beach and upmarket shopping centre, Carle says the family would happily stay put until the end of his contract. On paper at least, D-Day is the end of the season but he points out “...in football you never know”.

What he is certain about is the “brilliant” decision to bring Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero to Sydney, a coup made possible by Carle’s loan deal.

He watches many of the A-League games live online and says he “couldn’t be happier” for the club, although that view that might be tempered by the Sky Blues horror 7-2 capitulation to the Mariners on the weekend.

“Obviously Sydney did me a massive favour in letting me better myself and family and financially look after my future,” he said.

“They were brilliant to me – I’ve got a real good relationship with the club and really happy that they captured someone like Del Piero. Not just for Sydney but for the league as well.

“I’ve got my next year in Sydney and for now I’m heading home next season to Sydney FC.

That is the plan at the moment – to do my year here and then head back to Sydney FC where I’ve still got a year contract there and see where my career takes me from there.

“At the end of that contract I’ll be 32, so if I can get another two to three seasons out of myself back home, I’ll be very happy.”