Newsletter

Liverpool FC – Thiago in top form: Why the ex-Munich finally arrived in England

After about an hour, the spectators on Anfield Road rose to pay homage to one of their best players that Saturday afternoon. Standing ovations for the beaming Thiago, a few moments later Jürgen Klopp embraced the midfielder.

The reason for the warm reactions when he was substituted: Thiago had as part of the 4-0 over Southampton FC Done Thiago things on the field, flashing those qualities that caused rapture for many years among football aesthetes who keep up with FC Bayern.

Thiago played clever passes, was always ready to play, solved tricky situations with ease and scored his first Premier League goal of the season in a technically demanding manner. An achievement that symbolized the current form of the little artist.

Already in the penultimate league game against Arsenal (4-0) and especially during the week Thiago was enthusiastic, in the Champions League group game against FC Porto (2-0) made a statement with an outstanding hit from 25 meters. The “Sun” declared the full-tension dropkick a “wonder goal”, the “Guardian” used the adjective “breathtaking”.

Klopp full of praise, Thiago remains humble

Afterwards, Klopp was also enthusiastic: “Whoever sees Thiago in training knows that he has the technique to do something like that,” explained the coach, before the promised himself practiced humility and the team success in the Foreground. It is of course “always nice” to score a goal, but his main aim is to “help the team.”

Standing ovations, hymns of praise in the press, helping the team – all of this has been somewhat new for Thiago since he moved from Munich to the Mersey a little over a year ago. In his first season, the 30-year-old was unable to put his stamp on the Liverpool game.

Thiagos advance praise withered

Shortly after his arrival, Thiago Corona caught himself, right in the first game after surviving the infection, he was hit rudely in the knee by Everton’s Richarlison in the derby, which resulted in a downtime of more than two months. The transfer did not seem to be under a good star, Thiago owed a lot even after his injury, the numerous advance praise faded quickly.

Thiago was regularly confronted with criticism, especially with journalists and experts he had a hard time in the meantime. The accusation: Thiago simply does not fit the dynamic game of the team, sports journalist Adrian Durham, for example, said at the beginning of January on “talksport”: “Since Thiago there the team has evolved from heavy metal to elevator music. ”

The director is a talented footballer, but “the absolutely wrong man for Liverpool.” At the end of the season there were 30 appearances and only one goal in the books.

Thiago denies Barcelona rumors

It is hardly surprising that rumors persisted about the Spaniard, Most recently, Barcelona’s new coach Xavi is said to have put out feelers to Thiago. Spanish and English media reported that the club legend wanted to lure another former teammate back to Catalonia after Dani Alves in Thiago. In addition, he would not feel particularly comfortable in Liverpool anyway.
Thiago recently denied the reports and committed himself to Liverpool in the run-up to the duel with Porto. “I play football and I don’t care about such speculations. I concentrate completely on my tasks and my contract term here.” The move to the island was “100 percent the right decision”. There are no plans to prematurely end his employment contract, which is valid until 2024. Rather, he wants to win “all possible trophies” with the LFC.

Statements that the fans should like. With a delay, Thiago could become the key player he had hoped for when he was signed. It makes the game more variable, more difficult to calculate. Contrary to the prevailing opinion that Thiago did not fit in with Liverpool, he actually has Klopp’s profile of requirements.

Thiago shines as a ball conqueror

In addition to his strengths in the game, he also shines as a ball conqueror thanks to his anticipatory skills. For example, no player recorded more ball conquests against Arsenal than Thiago (eight), against Southampton it was also eight after 60 minutes and the statisticians counted seven against Porto, only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came up with more (eleven).

In mid-September Jürgen Klopp took stock: “The start was not perfect, because Thiago came here and got Covid and injured himself early. That makes everything more difficult. But he showed what kind of player he can be for us.” The former Dortmund predicted: “So there will be a lot more to come.”

He should be right.

You might also be interested in: Bad injury: Neymar shock overshadows PSG victory

What a farce: Belenenses only with nine men in the Lisbon derby

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending