With regards to Thiago, his charging around won quite a few balls for us and is what Klopp wants from his players and the fouls are what happens when you want players to aggressively press the ball. What was uncharacteristic was the amount of simple passes that went astray, which is not what you expect from him. I have had games where I couldn’t pass wind never mind the ball, so then all you can do is run harder which for me Thiago did and at least he tried but just had one of those games.
What I do find frustrating is that our players over commit to the challenge and get beaten by a simple turn which leaves them the wrong side of the ball and out if position and Thiago wasn’t the only one guilty of this and it seems, for me, a coaching issue.
Yes, i count myself in that group, there were many of us calling for Fabs back in DM months ago. In fact not just Fabs but Hendo as well. I said at the time i’d rather have Rhys and Nat as CB if it meant getting Hendo and Fab back where they belong but i cant blame Klopp for doing it. I mean, Fab and Hendo actually did well there and we’ll never know if results would have been better had they been back in midfield, they may have even been worse.
Now that Kabak is playing well (and i hope we buy him when we get the chance) and with Ben (im assuming Nat will go but wouldnt mind seeing him as a backup) then we’ll hopefully never need to see Hendo or Fab used there again even to give players rest. If anything i think LB has become a bit of a priority now, someone who can give Robbo a rest, I thought Tsimikas would be that player but hes not or Robbo would have had a break by now.
In the league he is frustrating to watch, and I believe Klopp knows this. By watching the opposite in Europe, where he has been really good for us, my take is that he will be good once he gets used to the league.
It seems that unlike with other players previously (Fabinho, Robbo, Ox), Klopp believes part of the process for him to get there is to get games. If he feels he needs to be replaced during a game, like last night, he doesn’t hesitate to do so. So I’m trusting that in Klopp’s hands he’ll come good.