Gotta say, it would be hard to script better circumstances for Thiago to be introduced. On the condition that Henderson was withdrawn purely as a precaution, everything else came together beautifully.
Faced with a team that was going to sit in and hope to hurt us on the counter attack, us with a man advantage, limited to 45 minutes, 3 forwards to hit, easy out balls to the flanks all the time, it’s like it was tailor made for Thiago to come in and manipulate openings.
Really encouraging. As good as Gini, Fabinho and Henderson are, they don’t move the ball as quickly nor with as much invention as Thiago (only Keita comes close in midfield, imo). That was precisely what we needed second half. Chelsea’s players were chasing shadows. Can’t wait to see more of Thiago and Keita together, hopefully with Henderson as well.
We’ve waited so long to have that kind of talent in our midfield. Everything he does is sheer precision and his vision , awareness and speed of thought mark him out as a truly great player.
Thiago is the type of player I’ve wanted in a LFC shirt for years, and I do mean years. Decades to be honest. We had a good run with Alonso, Molby was kind of in that mold too. before then you’re going back to the likes of Souness etc.
Thiago is a step up again. I’ve been hoping we could get a player that is a midfield general. Everything comes through them. They control tempo, possession, everything. They dont lose the ball. When you have this you’re able to build and build pressure on teams that sit in and then you have inventiveness to provide that pass to unlock it all.
The only thing now is to ensure that the forwards dont get lazy. Their movement needs to stay top notch but I suspect with Thiago orchestrating things it will be even easier for them. He has the vision to see them and the ability to put the ball on a plate. We could see Bobby having an upturn in form from this.
Yes, yes Oli is a great manager - he is doing a terrific job - hopefully, he will stay for the next 20 years. Much much better than Frank. Easily in the top 3 managers in Europe. Everything should be done to encourage him to stay at the club for as long as possible.
Was quite surreal seeing Thiago at HT getting ready to come on. He oozed class throughout the game, pinching myself we have him.
Fabinho was brilliant at the back, great game from him and the team in general. The first half although we controlled it seemed quite even, Chelsea had a couple of chances but a deserved win from our boys in the 2nd half. The first goal was a lovely team goal and great work from Bobby and Mane in applying the pressure for the second.
Frank might want to have a look at himself, if results don’t improve under him Roman will swing the axe. Will be a lot of top managers salivating at the prospect of taking over that squad.
Hendo often moves the ball very quickly (the through ball to Mané is an example) he just does it in a very different way.
The thing that got me most about Thiago is I’m going to have to get used to those lofted precise passes, so unlike what our other players produce (bar VVD perhaps even if less precise). Just got soo used to TAA whipped balls placed infront of Robbo, Fab and Gomez rockets along the ground. Thiago definite brings another dimension to our game.
The way it played out as @Kopstar said it really was a perfect introduction for Thiago and he was excellent in posession. Defensively some work to do but that’s normal (most will probably forget the penalty but that sort of thing on a debut is ‘normally’ remembered).
composed performance, didn’t give them a sniff. fabinho was superb at the back, might be worth sticking with him back there as gomez has been poor for a while. mane is such a top player,turns up every week. chelsea have a lot of talented players but will do nothing with lampard in charge.
Our performance was a definite step up from last week. Fab was excellent as CB. Our front 3 lively and Thiago upped the tempo of our attack by creating spaces and options with his clever passing and movement. I thought it was impossible but I feel this season we are even stronger!
After re-watching the match, I am very surprised that Chelsea gave our boys so much room to work with. There were barely any pressure from them against our forwards and mid-fields.
Their whole game plan was to sit in a nice defensive shape and counter attack with Werner going up against Fabinho.
You might have expected more from a side who are talking about competing for the league and are spending hundreds of millions of pounds, and who were at home, but you’d be mistaken.
I don’t know where it went wrong with Sarri but their performance at the Bridge 2 years ago against us was so much better and more ambitious than what we saw yesterday.
