Thiago Alc*ntara | Retires

It’s about time their forays into the transfer market for first XI players started to fail. They’ve been ludicrously lucky in the last five years that almost every signing they’ve made that was intended to be a first XI starter fitted Klopp’s system well and were very dependable performers: Salah, van Dijk, Mane, Alisson, Robertson, Wijnaldum. That is an unprecedented hit rate on transfers and the fact they needed to be that perfect in the market to be as successful as they were between 2018-20 is soothing as I don’t fancy them to get anywhere near that hit rate in the transfer market ever again. It must be very worrying for Liverpool fans right now.
 
He’s fecking shite. The more the plays the more he will get exposed
 
Remember the weeks everyone was crapping themselves that he'd be the final piece of their dynasty?
 
There's a sickening amount of fawning over this guy the start of this thread.

I won't quote them because I'm not feeling mean. This guy was right though...
The worst is Rob Smyth on the Guardian (a United fan no-less.) Every Thiago pass is swooned over; he also came up with this gem: "It might be heavy-metal football but there’s plenty of melody in there as well. There’ll be even more once Thiago gets in the team."
 
Or when a load of folks hurled abuse at the club for not going for him

That's just internet fans though isn't it.

Genuinely would prefer buying someone, over nobody.

Peaking in the days people were genuinely suggesting a early mid 30s Barry and his ilk for signings.
 
That's just internet fans though isn't it.

Genuinely would prefer buying someone, over nobody.

Peaking in the days people were genuinely suggesting a early mid 30s Barry and his ilk for signings.
Joey Barton is an all time low suggestion
 
Remember the weeks everyone was crapping themselves that he'd be the final piece of their dynasty?

Don’t know about dynasty but I think if were honest, most of us had a sense of foreboding.he’d improve them

Usual revision coming to the fore from the Hindsight Harrys who knew all along
 
I think if were honest, most of us had a sense of foreboding.

Usual revision coming to the fore from the Hindsight Harrys who knew all along

I think i was fairly neutral on it to be honest.
But some posters were absolutely sh!tting themselves. It was bizarre.
 
Get a fecking grip, you sound like a fanboy.

For what is worth my Bayern friend thinks Thiago is all fancy flicks and great against poor opposition, but always ended up costing Bayern dearly in CL knockout games with stupid mistakes. So your opinion as a Bayern fan is by no means the truth (or the only truth). And if you think I'm biased due to him joining LFC, check my posting activity as far back as you want.

I think my Bayern supporting friend was right all along, Thiago is all fancy flicks and little substance.
 
I think i was fairly neutral on it to be honest.
But some posters were absolutely sh!tting themselves. It was bizarre.

well whatevs. Probably best to just enjoy it and hope there”s more fun to come. It’d be nice if Everton could shock us all and take the 3 points from them. Currently 3x games in hand and 3 pts behind:eek:
 
Some United fans never got over us failing to sign him in 2013 and desperately wanted him to be a success for Liverpool to prove some kind of point
 
well whatevs. Probably best to just enjoy it and hope there”s more fun to come. It’d be nice if Everton could shock us all and take the 3 points from them. Currently 3x games in hand and 3 pts behind:eek:

Expecting them to bash Fulham and put it equal, but just keeping them to a draw at Anfield would be superb.
They are on a run of 3 consecutive league defeats there :)
 
Bundesliga in general seems to be shipping the PL flop after flop lately :lol:
Don't act like several Germans didn't warn you that Havertz doesn't live up to the hype. ;)

I'm quite surprised about Thiagos tackling success rate. For Bayern he was always one of the players with the best tackling rate and most interceptions. Not only in the Bundesliga but also in the Champions League. In fact his complete defense skillset is quite exceptional, especially for such a fancy player.

Just take a look at this video:

As others pointed out, he's also used to fast counter attacking teams because 99% of teams sit deep and rely on counter attacks against us.

My only explanation right now is that he isn't fully fit yet after his Covid infection.
 
Credit the posters who were adamant the guy would not fit in at United. Imagine him behind Pogba and Bruno. It would be a massacre.
Yeah I was a big proponent of Thiago behind one of them at least. I’m tactically inept. :lol:
 
Don't act like several Germans didn't warn you that Havertz doesn't live up to the hype. ;)

I'm quite surprised about Thiagos tackling success rate. For Bayern he was always one of the players with the best tackling rate and most interceptions. Not only in the Bundesliga but also in the Champions League. In fact his complete defense skillset is quite exceptional, especially for such a fancy player.

Just take a look at this video:

As others pointed out, he's also used to fast counter attacking teams because 99% of teams sit deep and rely on counter attacks against us.

My only explanation right now is that he isn't fully fit yet after his Covid infection.


BL is just not as good as the PL, teams play quite similar brands of football overall but there are just better players in the PL on average. Havertz said that was the biggest difference for him, that there aren't any average players and everyone, even in the relegation battling teams, is elite level. Ballack said something similar a couple of years ago as well. Add in Liverpool not at full strength and you can see why he's having a bit of a nightmare.
 
He's a good player but he doesn't fit how Liverpool play and its also the sort of signing we'd have made 4 years ago. Get someone at the point in their career where their sharpness isn't quite what it was, and they have nothing left to prove, and then throw them into a league that's probably the most physical of all the top leagues in the world.

Problem is I don't really know where you fit him in. He's a luxury/third midfielder really, but he doesn't score or assist enough to be used as one. He doesn't have the ability of someone like Scholes to dictate a game even when he can't cover the ground. You can't play him in a sitting role because he's not really a defensive player. He just doesn't fit anywhere.

Probably why Bayern seemed to let him go so easily. Always a reason to be cautious when a good team seems unfussed about losing a player.

Reckon he'd look a bit more useful if Liverpool could actually play defenders in their defence though. You're always going to look worse when the people behind you insist on basically throwing the ball into their own goal the second you aren't at it.
 
The guy had his best season of his career last year. And that was with a sub-par first half of the season. And if Pavard didn’t get injured there is a big chance he would have lost his place to Kimmich too. Furthermore the rest of his bayern career really wasn’t that impressive. Very inconsistent.

He also never could hold a place in the first 11 of Spain either. For example at WC18 in his “prime” (27) he sat on the bench for the younger Koke.

Last year he had some good games in the later stages of the Champions league in an immense Bayern side and he became insanely overrated. He never was as good as people thought at the start of the season. Good player, sometimes great, but nothing special imo.
 
I am just happy hes not a Bayern player anymore.
I know most fans still feel different, but he annoyed me nearly as much as Sane does at the moment.

I have a different opinion on him, for a very long time I always hated it when he came on for Bayern.
He was all fancy passes with low impact. His defensive work was not good enough and every single game he had at least 2-3 bloppers which were causing crazy opportunities for the opponent.

Yes he has matured and yes he is now putting in much more defensive work, however I still believe he is overrated. I think he has a problem with mentality and works only in a team with senior players making sure he knows he has to give his all in order to be featured. I think he left Bayern because theres a big chance he would be benched in the next months.

He will help Liverpool to break down easy opponenets (They dont need really help doing that), but he will suck in games where they struggle.
Everyone on redcafe will have a lot of fun when he looses the ball in crucial moments and liverpool gets punished for it.

Yes maybe hes an upgrade on someone like Keita, but thats not really a great feat isn´t it?

Probably get a lot of heat for my opinion, but I am pretty sure time will prove me right.
Yes I am a Bayern fan and as stated above I am quite happy he left. For a very long time all noteworthy forward passes Thiago made, were lob passes where commentators were creaming themselves over. It never was productive.

And yes he has improved his defensive game and also his stability. But for me I was mostly angry at him in games.

Will be quite interesting to see how this discussion will evolve over the next 12 months. I think united dodged a bullet.
 
BL is just not as good as the PL, teams play quite similar brands of football overall but there are just better players in the PL on average. Havertz said that was the biggest difference for him, that there aren't any average players and everyone, even in the relegation battling teams, is elite level. Ballack said something similar a couple of years ago as well. Add in Liverpool not at full strength and you can see why he's having a bit of a nightmare.

The difference is 2-3 clubs at the top but do you really think there is much between the average teams of the top leauges? There is really no data for that at all and (former) EPL players saying "the EPL is the hardest league" is kinda touting their own horn.
I mean what does it say about the EPL if we look at the performances of Coutinho and Hazard in Spain. Does it mean the competition there is so much stronger? And how is it possible that someone like Dias from the portuguse(!) league can transform a team like City?
Also while people go on about "BL transfers struggle" due to some recent ones someone like De Bruyne didn't have a problem at all and has the same output (same was true for Aubameyang). I think people really overstate the "league" factor. Imo it depends a lot more on each individual club/philosophy and especially the personality of the player. Not every player adopts well to a new environment including new language, culture, team mates etc. and Thiago has never been the player at Bayern who makes everyone else tick, he is in a lot of ways the "cherry on top" (and I argued exactly that long before his transfer) and had enough ups and downs at Bayern too.
 
It’s about time their forays into the transfer market for first XI players started to fail. They’ve been ludicrously lucky in the last five years that almost every signing they’ve made that was intended to be a first XI starter fitted Klopp’s system well and were very dependable performers: Salah, van Dijk, Mane, Alisson, Robertson, Wijnaldum. That is an unprecedented hit rate on transfers and the fact they needed to be that perfect in the market to be as successful as they were between 2018-20 is soothing as I don’t fancy them to get anywhere near that hit rate in the transfer market ever again. It must be very worrying for Liverpool fans right now.
Hold on. Lucky? Klopp and the club targeted a lot of these players based on what he wants from his squad as well as their personalities.

Calling it luck is a convenient way of trying to cover up how good the club has been in the transfer window since Klopp came in.

Thiago isn’t working out so far but I’m always willing to give players time. I was the same with Keita.
 
Hold on. Lucky? Klopp and the club targeted a lot of these players based on what he wants from his squad as well as their personalities.

Calling it luck is a convenient way of trying to cover up how good the club has been in the transfer window since Klopp came in.

Thiago isn’t working out so far but I’m always willing to give players time. I was the same with Keita.
Do you think werner would have suited instead of jota as it seems like he was first choice
 
I'm trying to think of outfield player hits. I'm sure there are some but none that I can just think of immediately.

Kevin de Bruyne

And it’s not about the league’s with Thiago. He just never was this dominant player as some people thought he was. He had a big name, due to his background and style. But he only had one real good season for Bayern and was a bench player for Spain for the biggest part of his career. Overrated.
 
Some United fans never got over us failing to sign him in 2013 and desperately wanted him to be a success for Liverpool to prove some kind of point
I feel the same. When will people understand that we don't have to sign every talented, world class player in the world. I for one am happy we didn't go for him. He's pretty overrated with bad injury record, on a decline now with high wages, same situation as Snejder/Schweinsteigger closer to their 30s.
 
Hold on. Lucky? Klopp and the club targeted a lot of these players based on what he wants from his squad as well as their personalities.

Calling it luck is a convenient way of trying to cover up how good the club has been in the transfer window since Klopp came in.

Thiago isn’t working out so far but I’m always willing to give players time. I was the same with Keita.

Lucky as in you could do all the targeting and research you want, but you never know how the player will settle and perform until after you've brought them over. So there's always an element of gamble involved, can never fully de-risk a transfer.
Goes both ways - sometimes you get more than you expect, as was the case with Salah who surprised even the most optimistic among the liverpool staff.
 
Yeah I was a big proponent of Thiago behind one of them at least. I’m tactically inept. :lol:
Hes never looked this bad though.
Even people that didn't rate him couldn't have imagined this start.

There's still a top quality player in there somewhere
 
Lucky as in you could do all the targeting and research you want, but you never know how the player will settle and perform until after you've brought them over. So there's always an element of gamble involved, can never fully de-risk a transfer.
Goes both ways - sometimes you get more than you expect, as was the case with Salah who surprised even the most optimistic among the liverpool staff.
Yeah I get that but I think a lot of analysis goes into targeting players and Klopp’s done well in that department.

His cheaper signings generally turn out worse.