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There was something profound about Thiago Alcantara’s 18-minute cameo in Newcastle on Wednesday.
That may sound hyperbolic. I get it. It was an 18 minute run with Liverpool chasing a breakthrough against a regular Newcastle side. But what became clear as soon as Thiago entered the field was that something was different. The team changed gears. The ball moved a little smoother. Suddenly, those who passed by were moving between the lines, instead of working back and forth at a drunken pace.
Some players are just great chemists. In all sports, you meet rare individuals with that intangible quality to improve those around them. They are elevators. And no one in today’s European game is a better lift than Thiago Alcantara. His style is contagious. Makes a touch pass, and so on you I want to make a touch pass. He holds it between the lines and it moves, so you move and then you shoot a fastball between the lines.
There’s a tangible aspect to all of that: Thiago is, at the root of it all, a great game tempo modulator. It’s a cliché, but it really makes the game play at its own pace. With two months and a little out or not, he arrived at St. James Park ready to double the game at his will, at his speed.
And it was necessary. Liverpool’s difficulties in the first half had a lot to do with the midfield combination of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Curtis Jones. Both Jones and Henderson looked at their limit, both physically and mentally exhausted. Whereas Milner’s natural propensity to fall to the left side of left center back causes a harsh chain reaction when he pairs in a midfield three with Henderson: Milner reverts to a left-back spot; Henderson falls to the right; the third midfielder pushes leaving a gap or has to go deep to collect the ball; Roberto Firmino begins to go all the way back to try to start the link play from front to back; Mohamed Salah isolates himself.
For much of the night at St. James Park, Liverpool’s usual line skills were lacking. To try to make up for the Milner-Henderson problem, Klopp essentially cast Curtis Jones in a shadow role number ten. Every time Firmino came in, Jones pushed in and up, ostensibly sitting on Firmino’s classic. false nine Stain. But it does not work. The rhythm was not there; Jones fought all night. Progressing on the ball got heavy, or was based on an Andy Robertson run or a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross shot.
(It should be noted that much of Liverpool’s vertical excellence relies on Gini Wijnaldum’s quick thinking. His movement, his deft touches, the give-and-go, few do better. Wijnaldum’s individual numbers to progress in numbers They are not typically out of this world good, but through his movement, knowing that he must not be in the same vertical line as any of his teammates, and through those inviting firings, he, as well as any player on the side, encourages Liverpool verticality)
Thiago entering the field offered a tangible benefit. Immediately, he raised his head and played between the lines. Here’s your first pass, delivered as soon as you entered the field.
When Thiago opens up to play the ball, Newcastle’s midfield block pops up. He is surely directing the ball to one of the Liverpool midfielders to his right, that’s what they’ve been doing all night … working the ball wide and THEN moving forward.
No. Thiago doesn’t have time for such delays. Instead, he shaped the outside, then shot the ball inside, through the lines towards Gini Wijnlaudm’s feet, because who else? – pulling a pair of Newcastle midfielders out of the game.
Look at the difference in the levels of the set-up game: Thiago, Wijnaldum, Firmino, and Salah are all on four different levels, all ready to bond with each other instead of the more static 2-2 example from before.
Thiago’s impact on the ball was instantaneous. But what was equally revealing was that non-tangible part; what he did without the ball, what his mere presence drew from those around him.
Players to wish give the ball to Thiago; they want to receive passes from the great director. They shuffle a bit more, try harder passing angles, put in a little more mustard, and teach their own passes. On some level, this writer believes, a couple of gamers are even trying to impress him. Oh, that’s Thiago! And it has a compound impact: everything moves much faster, much faster. Suddenly the ball is spinning instead of crawling across the grass.
It takes a special player to get into one of the great teams of all time and then increase the standard. But that’s exactly what Thiago did last night, as he did when he stepped onto the pitch against Chelsea before he even knew the names of his teammates. That is the Thiago effect.
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As the new year dawns, it would be easy to take a negative eye on Liverpool’s season so far. The wounds. COVID-19. Some sloppy performances. Some disappointing results. But the team is still at the top of the table. And in Thiago, Klopp and company. They have a revolutionary piece that they should finally be able to implement.
As Liverpool seek to defend the title, Thiago’s value lies as much in what he draws from others as in what he offers himself. It may have only been a cameo, but the Thiago effect was visible and real. If Liverpool continue to defend their crown, Thiago will be right in the middle.
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