Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich)

1- Regardless of if he was man of the match or not, he performed incredibly well for a guy playing in the CL final. He is cold-blooded. Every time Bayern is pressed and doesn't know where to go with the ball they give it to Thiago. I had to leave the house around the 80th minute or so and I had still not seen Thiago get dispossessed of the ball a single time and if I am not mistaken I think he still hadn't played a single miss pass. He systematically takes out the first pressing line of the opposition leaving automatically 3 or 4 players out of the either by a quick move often following a sublime first touch or simply by passing the ball through the eye of the needle to find the least pressured man.
 
2- You cant compare Thiago to Gini. Two different players. Thiago will never press with the energy Gini brings but he will have the same effect defensively because of how smart he is positionally and how good he is at reading the game in order to break up play by being at the good place at the right moment. With the ball at his feet, he does many things Gini does not like breaking the press of the opposition (aka a key trait to beat any team Guardiola coaches or that employs similar tactics), and he is much more creative from short and long-range. He won't be as much as a treat as Gini is in the opposition box and he will definitely not bring the same energy levels Gini brings (good thing we have two MF with a knack for goal emerging in Keita and Jones). I'm a greedy fan, ideally I want both in my team but if I absolutely have to chose one of the two I'll go for Thiago because he is, overall, the superior midfield (and also wtf is happening with Gini and his contract?)

3- I said it before and I stand by it, Thiago just opens up a whole other bag of options for us tactically speaking. He and Fabinho can double-pivot either when we attack or as a base formation leaving the likes of Keita, Jones, or Minamino with a bit less tracking back to do and much more freedom in their movement with two defensive rocks and fine passers behind them. Thiago being able to boss that CDM role too could also mean a 2 in 1 type of transfer where Fab could be played at CB if need be this season and thus we report the buying of a CB for another year while Van Den Berg, Hoever and Koumetio all progress towards an eventual jump to the 1st team squad.

Is the deal fictional or not, IDK. Are we a wreck without him? Obviously not. Is it sensible to make a direct comparison to Gini and suggest we wouldn't benefit greatly from having Thiago in our midfield? Definitely not. World-class talent is world-class talent and you never ''don't benefit'' from having it in your team. In this particular case we stand to benefit more than just a little.

Why is he being compared to Gini constantly?

The comparison should be with Fabinho as that’s the role Thiago plays not Gini’s

He’s nothing like fabinho. He’s not a typical DM in that way. He’s very similar to alonso.

I can’t see fabinho being dropped no matter who we sign so thats why there may be comparisons to gini instead, although again, they’re completely different players.

I’ve been a big admirer of Thiago for years and I’d love him at Liverpool, he’s top quality, but I just can’t see it to be honest. He’s not an FSG type signing.

What game were you watching? Even the mancs I know after tonight’s game are pissed we are most likely to get him after tonight’s showing, and they usually talk down any of our potential signings.

The same game you were watching but as I said he played quite well but a few on here going overboard,  for the record I have always rated him highly, it will always bemused me why Barcelona let him leave for a relatively low fee.

1- Regardless of if he was man of the match or not, he performed incredibly well for a guy playing in the CL final. He is cold-blooded. Every time Bayern is pressed and doesn't know where to go with the ball they give it to Thiago. I had to leave the house around the 80th minute or so and I had still not seen Thiago get dispossessed of the ball a single time and if I am not mistaken I think he still hadn't played a single miss pass. He systematically takes out the first pressing line of the opposition leaving automatically 3 or 4 players out of the either by a quick move often following a sublime first touch or simply by passing the ball through the eye of the needle to find the least pressured man.
 
2- You cant compare Thiago to Gini. Two different players. Thiago will never press with the energy Gini brings but he will have the same effect defensively because of how smart he is positionally and how good he is at reading the game in order to break up play by being at the good place at the right moment. With the ball at his feet, he does many things Gini does not like breaking the press of the opposition (aka a key trait to beat any team Guardiola coaches or that employs similar tactics), and he is much more creative from short and long-range. He won't be as much as a treat as Gini is in the opposition box and he will definitely not bring the same energy levels Gini brings (good thing we have two MF with a knack for goal emerging in Keita and Jones). I'm a greedy fan, ideally I want both in my team but if I absolutely have to chose one of the two I'll go for Thiago because he is, overall, the superior midfield (and also wtf is happening with Gini and his contract?)

3- I said it before and I stand by it, Thiago just opens up a whole other bag of options for us tactically speaking. He and Fabinho can double-pivot either when we attack or as a base formation leaving the likes of Keita, Jones, or Minamino with a bit less tracking back to do and much more freedom in their movement with two defensive rocks and fine passers behind them. Thiago being able to boss that CDM role too could also mean a 2 in 1 type of transfer where Fab could be played at CB if need be this season and thus we report the buying of a CB for another year while Van Den Berg, Hoever and Koumetio all progress towards an eventual jump to the 1st team squad.

Is the deal fictional or not, IDK. Are we a wreck without him? Obviously not. Is it sensible to make a direct comparison to Gini and suggest we wouldn't benefit greatly from having Thiago in our midfield? Definitely not. World-class talent is world-class talent and you never ''don't benefit'' from having it in your team. In this particular case we stand to benefit more than just a little.

He is a good player - very composed on the ball and does ensure possession keeps ticking over BUT

There are a few things make me believe he isn’t a target

1. We have a stacked centre mid - 7 players currently and whilst we don’t have someone that plays the exact same way as Thiago but our current midfield play the way they do for a reason - to allow the fullbacks to create and give the space to Bobby etc

2. His age , injury issues and his wage - all areas that imo go against him for the club when looking at players - he doesn’t fit the profile

Wonder if there's a possibility of both Gini staying and Thiago coming in. Was listening to the Anfield Wrap on my way to work and they were talking about the fact we've only got 3 first team centre halves at the minute and toying with the prospect of Fabinho being rotated to CB for certain games, which would then possibly open up space for an additional midfielder. Not sure the idea has legs like, as Fabinho for me is one of the first names on the teamsheet in his current role and ideally you'd want him to play as many games in that CDM position as he physically can, so utilizing him as a rotational centre half on the side seems a bit counterproductive as you'd want to keep him as fresh as possible to be able to undertake his "day job" to the best of his ability. I understood the reasoning behind shifting Milner to LB on occasions in the past as he wasn't a guaranteed starter, but it's a different scenario with Fab.

One to think about anyway, because I have thought it's quite strange how we've had no real transfer links with any centre half up to now

Didn't run the game tonight though

Didn’t watch the game but it seems to me as though he did.


https://mobile.twitter.com/StatmanDave/status/1297649260989689859

Wonder if there's a possibility of both Gini staying and Thiago coming in. Was listening to the Anfield Wrap on my way to work and they were talking about the fact we've only got 3 first team centre halves at the minute and toying with the prospect of Fabinho being rotated to CB for certain games, which would then possibly open up space for an additional midfielder. Not sure the idea has legs like, as Fabinho for me is one of the first names on the teamsheet in his current role and ideally you'd want him to play as many games in that CDM position as he physically can, so utilizing him as a rotational centre half on the side seems a bit counterproductive as you'd want to keep him as fresh as possible to be able to undertake his "day job" to the best of his ability. I understood the reasoning behind shifting Milner to LB on occasions in the past as he wasn't a guaranteed starter, but it's a different scenario with Fab.

One to think about anyway, because I have thought it's quite strange how we've had no real transfer links with any centre half up to now

If we got Thiago then you would have Fabinho, Henderson and Thiago who could play the DM type role, Fabinho is probably the best but if needs must then he could play CB without it hurting the team too much.

In summary Thiago would be a very very clever signing.

Didn’t watch the game but it seems to me as though he did.


https://mobile.twitter.com/StatmanDave/status/1297649260989689859

Stats can be used whichever way people want

Stats can be used whichever way people want

ok then do you have any stats to prove he was ordinary or poor in that game? ;-)

Stats can be used whichever way people want

Which other way can it be interpreted? Unless the stats are wrong, then he was the best player on the pitch in a lot of departments and suggests to me he was running the game.

As good a player Thiago is I’d be surprised if he landed here, his age is against him for a start and although we are a CB light from last season I think we have ample cover with Matip, and if push came to shove Fabinho could deputise if needed, it is no coincidence that the younger cb’s are being encouraged to show their worth with the possibility of being promoted if they are deemed good enough to step up,

As far as midfield go I think we are fine but could change if Gini’s head remains up his arse, if he swaps Scouse to Catalonian then we could see us delve into the transfer market, but I cannot see that being Thiago, I believe we’d be more inclined to get a more creative type, if it were down to me I’d be inclined to put a wee cheeky enquiry as to the availability of de Bryune to Pep, just to gauge his reaction, to wind him up, bear with me here,

It could set a seed that he thinks if I F**k up again Kevin will want to F**k off, Kevin is settled in the North West, nice house, kids at good school, missus happy, Kevin wants success, especially CL success, so what other club would offer similar opportunities, perhaps better opportunities to achieve the success he desires than that Big Red machine and not upset the kids, the Missus etc,

Getting into pep’s wee baldy napper would psychologically put added pressure on him to deliver, and I think he’ll crack, not so much that we’d land KDB, highly doubtful to impossible, but mind games are a good weapon to use,

I’m waffling on here and slightly off topic but it’s Monday and I’m bored tae F**k, so apologies all round,

Can’t see it but if Thiago came here then great, you don’t turn your nose up at such quality & experience, so I guess we will see.





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Thiago played well - mainly in the second half , imo Alaba , Neuer and Goretzka were the stand out players for Munich

Thiago seems to be being overhyped a touch at the moment

People waffling about his age but ok with offering a contract to Gini who is the same age 

People waffling about his age but ok with offering a contract to Gini who is the same age 

Serious. It’s really weird.

Stats can be used whichever way people want

I’d be interested to see how you would use those stats to say he didn’t run the game....

I’ll wait.

Thiago played well - mainly in the second half , imo Alaba , Neuer and Goretzka were the stand out players for Munich

Thiago seems to be being overhyped a touch at the moment

I didn’t see the match so I can’t comment on that one performance.

But I’ve seen a lot of Thiago over the years and trust me, he’s unreal. Nothing said about how good he is is overhyped.

He is a good player - very composed on the ball and does ensure possession keeps ticking over BUT

There are a few things make me believe he isn’t a target

1. We have a stacked centre mid - 7 players currently and whilst we don’t have someone that plays the exact same way as Thiago but our current midfield play the way they do for a reason - to allow the fullbacks to create and give the space to Bobby etc

2. His age , injury issues and his wage - all areas that imo go against him for the club when looking at players - he doesn’t fit the profile

The age, injury record and wage are all issues that I couldn't argue about with you because you are 100% correct. However, I would like to add a small caveat in the form of Jürgen Norbert Klopp, Liverpool FC and Thiago himself. Long story short he seems like a player looking for glory more than he is for money which would coroborate Klopp's admiration for him. Maybe he's willing to join the team within our wage structure.

If Gini is set on leaving then maybe we are trying to get a replacement in before he goes out wich would leave us at 7 players in MF, idk. Also the full-backs will get choked out and Pep Lijnders already pointed out that we will have to change the way we play and find new ways to attack so bringing in somebody who gives you that tactical flexibility does make sense.

Look, your points are all valid I'm just adding little caveats and debate to it. I guess we'll see in the next few days what happens. The greedy fan in me wants him because he is world-class and he would improve us regardless of what we think.

I’d be interested to see how you would use those stats to say he didn’t run the game....

I’ll wait.

You probably shouldn't, or you'll be waiting an awfully long time... 

I just think he’s class, how anyone could say otherwise is beyond me. The first half last night wasn’t great but  once Thiago clicked into gear he ran the show. I’d love him here, if we don’t get him I just hope no other Premiership side get him. He wants Premier League and we are his preferred option, City will jump at him!
The fume from the Mancs would be priceless if we signed him, worth it for that alone!

£27 million for an elite midfielder is an absolute bargain and surely other clubs would have bid for him straight away? Reckon there could be something in this one

I’d be interested to see how you would use those stats to say he didn’t run the game....

I’ll wait.

In my book the motm is someone who had the most influence on the result of the game and for me last night that was someone who wouldn't have registered anywhere on those stats because of the position he played in

I’d be interested to see how you would use those stats to say he didn’t run the game....

I’ll wait.

Because I have eyes as well, as I said he played quite well but bayern didn't dominate for 90 minutes, were the better side for a chunk of the 2nd half but taking off Conan and gnabry lost them their impetus. Christ almighty it's like YouTube clips, doesn't tell the whole picture. Stats only take you so far, suggest  you learn to think for yourself

Which other way can it be interpreted? Unless the stats are wrong, then he was the best player on the pitch in a lot of departments and suggests to me he was running the game.

Go and watch the game and judge for yourself,  if you think he did than fair enough