He played the No. 6 role. Why would he be a backup to Matic? He's got tremendous passing range like what Pogba possesses. He could also fill in for No. 8 whenever Pogba and Bruno need a rest. Seems like a no brainer to let him go to Pool. However, if we plan on going in for Van De Beek, I can see us not being interested.
Thiago Alcantara | Pool bound
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He played the No. 6 role. Why would he be a backup to Matic? He's got tremendous passing range like what Pogba possesses. He could also fill in for No. 8 whenever Pogba and Bruno need a rest. Seems like a no brainer to let him go to Pool. However, if we plan on going in for Van De Beek, I can see us not being interested.
Not even one hint of interest from us? Shame.
With Garner coming through, it would make sense though.
I expect we have spoken to his agent but he’s got his eyes set on a title challenge this year given his age.
Be interesting to see what happens with Wijnaldum if this goes through.
I think you definitely lack a player who excels in tight spaces. The way Klopp utilized Gündogan at Dortmund also gives me high hopes for Thiago. The player is also quite a bargain and you'll benefit from him for at least 4 years I'd say. Players of his build, style and position usually last quite long, see Modric, Iniesta, Xavi, Cazorla, etc.
You do but so far I only heard of serious interest from Liverpool and City.
Also, I don't think Thiago would fit to Pogba and Bruno. Thiago is a patient player who likes to move the ball around the pitch a lot (90.5% passing accuracy) until his team finds a hole in the opponent's defense. Pogba and Bruno on the other hand are much quicker in their transition to vertical passes (84% and 76% passing accuracy). If Thiago wants to move the ball around and his two midfield partners play it up front the moment they spot a run instead, I fear he won't have many actions per game. Possession oriented players tend to thrive when you surround them with similarly minded players and the Liverpool midfield is much closer to that (Wijnaldum 91% passing accuracy, Keita 88%, Fabinho 87%).
Would fecking hate it if Liverpool sign him. He'll take them up another level.
€30m is a good price even if they pay the full asking price
They're already League and UCL holders, amassing 197(?) points over the last 2 seasons. What other level is there they can go to?
Their possession game is often very dull and ineffective. He'd be their best midfielder by far the moment he joins the squad.
Okay, same question, why would he join knowing he was back-up to Pogba and/or Bruno? Same for van de Beek. If we want squad depth we either have to sign younger players, or better players than we already have so they push the current first choice down the pecking order.
Right and? He's going to what turn those 2 games they lost into wins? Big deal
He would also make them better to watch. Football is about being entertained.
The higher up you are, the smaller the margins get. Still, their midfield lacks a player of true class, and those 2 games might make the difference
Didn’t Sky Sports say yesterday Liverpool aren’t in the market for him ?
If you stand still you can go backwards. The signing may not increase the number of games they win, but it may allow them to win the same number of games as this season, which is likely to result in another league title.
Why are Bayern so happy to sell him cheap? €30m is nothing these days and many regard him as a top class player. Certainly very skilful.
Just an arbitrary number thrown in by our beloved "journalists".
I’ll bet it won’t be far off of that number.
The further we make it into the tournament, the more he's gonna cost. If we win the thing and he shines, good luck getting him for 30m
Moyes
Yeah what on earth was he thinking that summer and now thanks to him he's going to end up at the wrong team wearing red in England
Yeah okay. We'll see then.The €30m fee that's requested for him now is quoted by every reliable journo out there so I just didn't understand why you had to be so sarcastic about it. It's certainly now just a toss in the air like you made it out to be. If he goes to Liverpool, it will be for around that much. And you won't find many teams for his liking that'll be willing to shell out €40m+ for him.
The €30m fee that's requested for him now is quoted by every reliable journo out there so I just didn't understand why you had to be so sarcastic about it. It's certainly now just a toss in the air like you made it out to be. If he goes to Liverpool, it will be for around that much. And you won't find many teams for his liking that'll be willing to shell out €40m+ for him.
Threads like this are wierd. Like a bird is flirting with your mate and you're rationalising why you should go for it
I've never been really convinced by Thiago. I think Liverpool would be smart to stay away and look for the next potential quality CM in his early/mid 20s with a good injury record.
And just about every "reliable" told us how Sancho to Utd is basically a done deal. To quote Kalle:
Selling off one of the top5 midfielders on this globe for 30m is pretty much fire sale territory. So yeah, I fully expect this to be around 40-45, which would still be far from outrageous for a player like him.
Yep. God forbid teams strengthen while they are at the top. Seems a foreign concept to some.
Also, teams need refreshing when they win as complacency sets in or other teams catch up to them/become familiar with the style etc.
Well it's a pretty big deal when you only lose a handful of games a season! If he allows them to compete more competitively in the League AND in Europe then it's an absolute no brainer. They completely crapped out of all cup competitions.
You don't think against the lesser teams you will play him with Thiago alongside Fabinho?
Thiago - Fabinho - Wijnaldum
Don't think so. Henderson gets ahead of gini and on more recent form, so does keita. He'll be pushed out regularly if we also sign Thiago, I reckon. He's basically the more talented version of gini.
Gini hasn't signed a new contract and he seems to be the kind of player who won't be happy on the bench too regularly. I reckon he'll be off if this goes ahead.
Thiago is more of CM or deep midfielder not AM which is the slot where Henderson plays. I can't really see how midfield of Henderson - Fabinho - Thiago with no AM will provide benefits and improvement in your current midfield against the lesser teams.
Wijnaldum isn't really an AM for us either. If he can offer more penetrative passing than Wijnaldum, then he'll add something.
But I think the main attacking responsibility in midfield will fall on Keita whatever happens with Thiago and Wijnaldum. Especially given how poor Oxlaide Chamberlain looks after his year-long injury.
But Wijnaldum is the one who often arrive late in the box or play more advanced in your midfield three, right? Neither Thiago & Henderson are the type of midfielder.
This guy would be SOOO good for us. I know it won't happen but one can dream.
N
Thiago isn't comming to sit on the bench. This maybe their Veron signing.
Not sure why Klopp is trying to fix something that isn't broken.
Thiago isn't comming to sit on the bench. This maybe their Veron signing.
So when you’re at the top you don’t try and improve? That’s how you drop off.
That's the guy I've seen play for Netherlands, but it is more of an occasional thing in a red shirt (Barcelona).
Our Wijnaldum carries water. In a very classy and superbly press resistant way, it has to be said. But his midfield game for us is all about facilitating the transition from defense to attack moreso than actually supporting our attackers.
Henderson does a better job of supporting the front three with forward runs than gini. And he does a good job of it for the position he plays. We could do with someone next to him who can actually mix it up with the front three in tight spaces though.
Keita is that guy if he can stay injury free.
I think Klopp sees in Thiago an opportunity to upgrade wijnaldum and also change the midfield dynamic a little bit as well. I reckon he'll be asked to play more on the front foot than he's been used to at bayern.
to those that watch him, does he offer enough defensive cover in a mid along with Pogba and Fernandes. That's an issue we have even when Matic plays, teams who break from mid, we've no runners to track them. We rely on Matic's positioning which is very good but good teams will still pass that, when they do we don't have that runner in mid to get back and make a tackle. Does this lad offer that, I know from previous posts he's very good on the ball and that but I'm, just wondering what his defensive coverage is like.
Thiagos defensive contribution is vastly underrated in my opinion. Going by the statistics (amount of tacklings and percentage won, interceptions, etc.) he is our best midfielder regarding the defense for several years now. He was also the best in those statistics when Vidal was still with us and Martinez was in better shape.
I love Thiago, for me he is probably the most complete (not the best!) midfielder around. He can do everything, win the ball, long passes, short passes, dribble past opponents, score goals...
If it wasn't for injuries I think he would be rated as equal to Xavi and Iniesta by now.
He is a terrific player on his day and just beautiful to watch at.
Additionally he is also a very likeable guy.
I will miss him a lot, even though we have his (probably already superior successor) in our squad with Kimmich.
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