Thiago Alc*ntara | Retires

Dumbstar said:
Agreed. Hendo, Wijnaldum and Firmino have looked very uncomfortable with Thiago around. Good! It shows where we need to be so much better. Firmino particularly needs to get quicker in thought and action. And the sooner Gini gets to Barca the better. He has done a sterling job for us but we need to evolve now.

A midfield of Keita, Ox and Thiago with Jota instead of Bobby will do the trick. Even Shaqiri today showed what we need alongside Thiago.

Thiago will not struggle because he's the barometer of how football should be played.
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Yep alot of it has to be rearranged for you guys. Thiago indicates Klopp version 2.0 at Liverpool, let's see if it's better or worse!
 
He is really not Liverpool type of player, it will take them time to get used to passing football considering their biggest success came with playing hoofball. Not something they will do with Thiago on the pitch.

Dirty cnut though, but he is quite good, would fit us very well, far better than Liverpool.
 
N
11101 said:
We played it right at him because he kept putting himself in the way. Thats what good players do and he had a good game, as did our midfielders, without anybody being spectacular. The fact that both midfields nullified each other should show that.
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Imo because our passing was shit, trying to find the front 3 from stupid angles and from stupidly deep.
I also dont think they nullified our midfield as all, Fred was the best midfielder on the pitch imo.
Thiago really wasnt that impressive. He lost the flow of the game in those last 15 minutes as well. Our midfielders were waltzing in, untracked.
If they ran off Pogba like that we would crucify him
 
cyberman said:
N
Imo because our passing was shit, trying to find the front 3 from stupid angles and from stupidly deep.
I also dont think they nullified our midfield as all, Fred was the best midfielder on the pitch imo.
Thiago really wasnt that impressive. He lost the flow of the game in those last 15 minutes as well. Our midfielders were waltzing in, untracked.
If they ran off Pogba like that we would crucify him
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Equally, we couldn't get near their midfield in the opening minutes. Overall though, feck all real chances created on either side says to me the midfields matched each other pretty well. We were unable to stretch the game more than a couple of times and they weren't able to play their frantic bombardment football either.
 
Bebestation said:
Yep alot of it has to be rearranged for you guys. Thiago indicates Klopp version 2.0 at Liverpool, let's see if it's better or worse!
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Absolutely. If that cnut Richarlison hadn't taken him out earlier in the season he'd be 18 games in to adjust the teammates around him. As it happens we are in game 2.5 so far. Doesn't help that the midfielders he's supposed to be playing next to are injured (Ox, Keita) or placed elsewhere in defence (Hendo, Fab). Only Gini is there but we know he's a crap footballer with the ball regardless of what he does in meaningless Holland games.

These things will take time. Thiago will be running Liverpool soon enough.
 
I thought he was the best player on the pitch personally, wasn't expecting the reactions on here about his performance
 
Liverpool had scored in every Premier League game this season until Thiago’s return from injury. They haven’t scored since.

From f365. Firminho doesnt really make runs in behind so Im struggling to see what he can offer that isnt a cross field pass to open teams up
 
charlenefan said:
I thought he was the best player on the pitch personally, wasn't expecting the reactions on here about his performance
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Mate, at the risk of getting banned or infracted have a look at the title of this website.

I was loving his performance tonight. Could have been better but the bar is so, so much higher for him than everyone else when I say that.
 
He wasn't awful, but bar the early stages (where we were poor and gave him too much space), he was nothing special. Off the ball his positioning is sound, but he was pretty boring overall with the ball today. He got past Fred once (big hoop, pretty much any PL player does), which could have led to a good opportunity if he hadn't mis-weighed his pass, which sort of summed things up: flashes of class mixed with some average stuff.

Nothing special either way.
 
Amar__ said:
He is really not Liverpool type of player, it will take them time to get used to passing football considering their biggest success came with playing hoofball. Not something they will do with Thiago on the pitch.

Dirty cnut though, but he is quite good, would fit us very well, far better than Liverpool.
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Thiago was in a passing side all his career and he is master at it. What are you even talking about?
 
Could have been sent off, no idea how he escaped without a booking at least.
 
strongwalker said:
Thiago was in a passing side all his career and he is master at it. What are you even talking about?
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He’s saying that Liverpool as a team don’t really play to his strengths.. he’s a passing player in a system set up for hoof ball..
 
Dumbstar said:
Agreed. Hendo, Wijnaldum and Firmino have looked very uncomfortable with Thiago around. Good! It shows where we need to be so much better. Firmino particularly needs to get quicker in thought and action. And the sooner Gini gets to Barca the better. He has done a sterling job for us but we need to evolve now.

A midfield of Keita, Ox and Thiago with Jota instead of Bobby will do the trick. Even Shaqiri today showed what we need alongside Thiago.

Thiago will not struggle because he's the barometer of how football should be played.
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Getting rid of one of your most consistent performers to accomodate a crock seems an odd strategy.
 
strongwalker said:
Thiago was in a passing side all his career and he is master at it. What are you even talking about?
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Something completely different from what you read.

He said Liverpool don't play with passing players like Thiago, more defensive solid players to give freedom to FBs.
 
Cheech Wizard said:
Who was the United player he skipped past and left in the dust in the first half? Was it Fred? About time we had a midfielder he can do stuff like that.
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Wijnaldum skips past players regularly too. Pogba does it for us. It's not that rare an occurrence.
 
He and Fabinho were Liverpool’s best players yesterday, thought he was great in midfield, even if he was lucky to stay on the pitch.
 
Thiago ran the show for 20 minutes, we gifted him all the space in the world, but apart from one fluffed pass he offered nothing substantial in that period.
Once we'd sorted out shape Thiago was barely in the game.
The second half bar a good shot he was anonymous, slow and ponderous with multiple poor tackles.
Maybe a fitness thing but I get the impression he just isn't that mobile anymore.
The funniest bit of the game was Thiagos face as Fred blazed past him and he had to take him out!!
 
Tidy neat player, wouldn't expect anything else from a Barca schooled player but Liverpool's system a bit of a burst forward in numbers and that really isn't what he's about.

I actually think the drive of Henderson and the Dutch lad I can't spell the name of, suit's them better.
 
Cheech Wizard said:
Not true. Bayern wanted to keep him but he wanted a different challenge and Barca were interested in re-signing him.
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Bayern left him go because he had a lot of injuries, was really inconsistent, is almost 31 yo... and just like Verratti is a really gifted player who never delivers in big games.
 
Thiago gets massively overrated for doing relatively ineffectual things in a nice looking way.

Liverpool have lost their directness, and the goals have suddenly dried up. Coincidence?
 
He ran the show for the first 30 minutes, then faded out when we made a couple of adjustments and came into the game a bit more. He was very lucky to be on the pitch at the end of the game, and I’m amazed that wasn’t noted by the commentators at all.

He’s a very good player, but I don’t think the Liverpool front line are accustomed to the way he plays. He doesn’t necessarily fit with the formula that’s made them so successful. Makes you wonder why they’re changing a winning format.
 
Zen86 said:
He ran the show for the first 30 minutes, then faded out when we made a couple of adjustments and came into the game a bit more. He was very lucky to be on the pitch at the end of the game, and I’m amazed that wasn’t noted by the commentators at all.

He’s a very good player, but I don’t think the Liverpool front line are accustomed to the way he plays. He doesn’t necessarily fit with the formula that’s made them so successful. Makes you wonder why they’re changing a winning format.
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I’ve seen a number of people say he ran the show. I’m taking this to mean he had lots of touches and circulated the ball. But there was no penetration and Pool didn’t create a chance.
 
Feed Me said:
I’ve seen a number of people say he ran the show. I’m taking this to mean he had lots of touches and circulated the ball. But there was no penetration and Pool didn’t create a chance.
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He quite clearly did, our players couldn’t get near him to begin with. The lack of end product is more that he’s a square peg for a round hole in that team.
 
Cascarino said:
There’s a reason players commit those fouls, it’s to stop the defence being exposed, you don’t want pacy forwards like Rashford running at a makeshift back line. Especially with someone like Henderson nestled back there. It’s not a sign of having a poor game. There’s a reason Pep gets his players stopping those counters with shithousery.
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In Thiago's case he commits these fouls because he's slow as tar and has no chance of catching a player once they pass him. It's why it's so annoying that he gets away with so many yellow card challenges. If I was a manager I'd tell my players to do whatever they can to get him booked.
 
Zen86 said:
He quite clearly did, our players couldn’t get near him to begin with. The lack of end product is more that he’s a square peg for a round hole in that team.
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United were passive in the opening 30 mins, probably deliberately so because our mantra is to survive the opening part of any match at Anfield.

Thiago will always get loads of touches in that context, but it was hardly an onslaught, certainly not what it would have been had Henderson been in the engine room.

By the end of the match, we had completely overrun their central midfield area.

I agree with your square peg, round hole sentiment. Liverpool are foregoing the directness that made them so dangerous.
 
His ability to get past a player in the central areas of the pitch is fantastic. Left Fred for dead a few times.
Defensively he was average af, don't know how that will work out for him at Pool who do so much of their 'clever' work off the ball.
 
Feed Me said:
I’ve seen a number of people say he ran the show. I’m taking this to mean he had lots of touches and circulated the ball. But there was no penetration and Pool didn’t create a chance.
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You could also take it to mean that Liverpool in the first half tried to circulate the ball quickly with purpose and in the first half they managed, creating lots of imbalances with us, and this was to a big degree due to Thiago.

The fact that they couldn’t penetrate us, you could also attribute to the fact that Lindelöf and Maguire were brilliant in the box, our defensive set up was on the whole quite good, and Mane, Firminho and Salah are a bit off colour atm in their finishing.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Not even the best Liverpool player. Fabinho was much better
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Fabinho was excellent as well and is also a fair mention for MOTM along Thiago, Shaw, Lindelöf and Pogba imo. But Thiago just takes it for me with his excellent passing, control and vision.
 
Grande said:
You could also take it to mean that Liverpool in the first half tried to circulate the ball quickly with purpose and in the first half they managed, creating lots of imbalances with us, and this was to a big degree due to Thiago.

The fact that they couldn’t penetrate us, you could also attribute to the fact that Lindelöf and Maguire were brilliant in the box, our defensive set up was on the whole quite good, and Mane, Firminho and Salah are a bit off colour atm in their finishing.
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I personally didn’t see a lot of imbalances. I was very unhappy with our first half on the ball but thought we were totally untroubled when Liverpool were in possession. A side with their quality and home record is always going to have some shots but it was pretty easy going compared to some of the matches at Anfield when we’ve gone through the mill.

I thought the game completely passed him by as it went on and we were utterly dominant by the last 20 minutes. Liverpool were absolutely delighted to leave with a point by the end.

I just think you talk about imbalances, and it’s all very aesthetic and patient. But they’ve had so much success with bum rush football that I’m not sure what the need to change was.

There are shades of Veron coming into the United midfield in the early 00s here. I can foresee a similar outcome.
 
Zlatan Ibrahomovic said:
Fabinho was excellent as well and is also a fair mention for MOTM along Thiago, Shaw, Lindelöf and Pogba imo. But Thiago just takes it for me with his excellent passing, control and vision.
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I completely disagree. He kept things ticking for them in a match in which we conceded possession as we do in all our games against Liverpool. I feel people overrate him because he appears classy on the ball. Even as a footballer, everyone makes him out to be some all time great CM or something which is really odd.
 
Feed Me said:
I personally didn’t see a lot of imbalances. I was very unhappy with our first half on the ball but thought we were totally untroubled when Liverpool were in possession. A side with their quality and home record is always going to have some shots but it was pretty easy going compared to some of the matches at Anfield when we’ve gone through the mill.

I thought the game completely passed him by as it went on and we were utterly dominant by the last 20 minutes. Liverpool were absolutely delighted to leave with a point by the end.

I just think you talk about imbalances, and it’s all very aesthetic and patient. But they’ve had so much success with bum rush football that I’m not sure what the need to change was.

There are shades of Veron coming into the United midfield in the early 00s here. I can foresee a similar outcome.
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Imbalances are not aesthetic, it’s the main route to goals for a team in possesion. Klopp’s sides are and have always been, partly about possession play. It’s how they mix that up with rapid press, long balls and counters that define his style.

When a team on many occasions gets a man with the ball and little pressure close to the box, that’s a dangerous situation at this level, and Liverpool a fair lot of that in the first half. City are great at creating those situations normally, yet against us almost all their possesion close to the box have been under pressure, in the games I saw (missed the cup games).

To exploit those dangerous imbalances, Liverpool would have to find the right passes with precision and a good finish. It’s a numbers game, and with those attackers it comes off pretty often. Yesterday, the quality was low on the finishes, so so on the final passes, and partly due to that Lindelöf and Maguire were exceptional at reading space, harrying attackers and snuffing out dangers.
 
He was very good in the beginning of the game but faded away towards the end/second half. Was quite sloppy in his passing too, made some unnecessary mistakes and was slow to track back when we lost position sometimes.

You see the quality (and the potential to be amazing) is definitely there but it's weird to see claims on here that he "ran the show", makes it out like he dictated the whole game which he didn't. What bothered me most was that he was able to have some nice passes or dribbles but ultimately there wasn't even one time where he set up our attackers in front of goal or created an opening for our backs to cross the ball, which is what you'd expect from him. He needs more of that Coutinho vibe where he creates something out of nowhere, especially if our opponents are sitting deep into their own half.
 
The Siege said:
His ability to get past a player in the central areas of the pitch is fantastic. Left Fred for dead a few times.
Defensively he was average af, don't know how that will work out for him at Pool who do so much of their 'clever' work off the ball.
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It's an easy fix. Put Fabinho and Henderson back next to him where they always should be.
 
RobinLFC said:
He was very good in the beginning of the game but faded away towards the end/second half. Was quite sloppy in his passing too, made some unnecessary mistakes and was slow to track back when we lost position sometimes.

You see the quality (and the potential to be amazing) is definitely there but it's weird to see claims on here that he "ran the show", makes it out like he dictated the whole game which he didn't. What bothered me most was that he was able to have some nice passes or dribbles but ultimately there wasn't even one time where he set up our attackers in front of goal or created an opening for our backs to cross the ball, which is what you'd expect from him. He needs more of that Coutinho vibe where he creates something out of nowhere, especially if our opponents are sitting deep into their own half.
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Yeah that run past Fred like he wasn't there and then the overhit pass in the penalty area to Salah was sublime and then shocking. That should have led to a certain tap in chance but it was all screwed up with that pass. You can tell he was unhappy with himself many times in the game which is a good sign.
 
He's a great player obviously but that performance wasn't anything special - we see Pogba do things like that every match and then gets called bang average for it.

I was shocked how many passes he was missing, he's usually very accurate.
 
Dumbstar said:
It's an easy fix. Put Fabinho and Henderson back next to him where they always should be.
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Then Thiago won't have the space he needs to operate, we saw that in the second half and the end of the first half.
Once United had pushed up slightly, which happened around the 30 minute mark, he had less space to work in, less time in the ball and was far less effective, and in the second half anonymous.
You put the two workhorses next to him and your crowding him out, they'll all want to be in that deeper role, a quarterback if you will.
You'll be best off playing Shaqiri and Ox, or Kieta in front of him and rely on keeping the ball as a defensive outlet, or playing him further forward.
 
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