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Liverpool have watched a total of 135 minutes of Thiago Alcantara’s Premier League football to date, but the hope is that there are many more performances that see him reach similar or higher levels.
So far, even simple five-yard passes have been praised for being the hype around the player, and that hype is certainly justified.
When Thiago came to Anfield from Bayern Munich, he was a seven-time Bundesliga champion and current Champions League champion, but he was still surrounded by a myth about what he could bring to the table.
On the Analyzing Anfield podcast, Josh Williams said: “With players like this, there is a narrative, or perhaps an expectation, that he is a luxury player and that he should be carried without the ball, but clean and aesthetically pleasing with possession. .
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“But that’s not the case for Thiago, he’s hard-working and a bit grafter. His interceptions and anticipation are great. He won an inning against Chelsea and took a silent punch!
“On the defensive side of the game, he fits the mold again, he’s not going to be a passenger. He makes as many interceptions as the other Liverpool midfielders.”
This was evident again during the game against Everton, where Thiago was more than capable of putting his foot inside. Even the robust tackle that saw Richarlison sent off could not get him off the pitch, although he will miss the clash against Ajax as a result.
At Goodison Park, Thiago was dispossessed just once, winning the only inning he had to put in and making seven successful ball recoveries, giving away just one foul.
There were no fans inside Goodison Park to make the afternoon even more demanding, but for a first performance in a Merseyside derby, it was not a bad performance.
The idea, then, that Thiago is not an ideal number six in the Premier League, where his defensive capabilities will be tested considerably at times, is simply wrong.
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As David Hughes added: “It was coming from a very intense pressing system, so it wasn’t like we were looking at [a player who will have to get used to] the complexities of different systems.
“Klopp sidestepped before the Chelsea game when asked if he was in the running to start. He laughed and said he didn’t know enough about the system, but there are some similarities: the fundamentals will be very present.”
So far, the evidence for that is clear. Thiago has already been a transformative player for Liverpool, and if Jordan Henderson’s goal at the end against Everton had stuck, created by his delicious disguised pass to Sadio Mane, that would have been a fair reward.
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