So what has Thiago done here since he arrived except for making the midfielders around him worse?
I’ve criticized signing him because he did not (and still doesn’t) fit in the kind of midfield that won us CL and PL but I’ve understood that he was a world class midfielder.
Overall I’m still not impressed and actually he has been a shadow of the midfielder he was at Bayern.
He’s our best midfielder … by a country mile.
And as for ‘making the midfielders around him worse?’ … ffs man , are you for real ?
He is but our midfield as a unit was still better before he joined.
Thiago is world class (even more at Bayern) but he was never able to offer the energy Wijnaldum or Lallana had - pivotal to the defensive stability we had.
The same midfield was criticized for not offering enough going forward. It did the job then, but an evolution was needed.
The problem is he doesn’t have the 2018-21 Hendo Fab or Gini with him nor the likes of peak Mane Salah or Bobby. He would be insane if we played to his strengths and had runners of the ball, and the rest of the team played to his wavelength. Sadly, the entire team is a shadow of itself.
v Chelsea today.
• 50/62 (81%) passes (1st for LFC)
• 1 chance created
• 87 touches (1st for LFC)
• 2/3 dribbles (=1st in game)
• 1/2 aerial duels
• 5/5 tackles (1st for LFC)
• 1 clearance
• Not dribbled past
Thiago isn’t the problem, no 1 player is the problem. Even if we never signed Thiago and Gini was still with us we’d be having the same problems. Age has caught up with a lot of these players and the ones we’re asking to step up are too young and inexperienced.
What a stupid fucking take.
Come on, mate, really? This is exactly the kind of post you’d report for moderation and really isn’t the kind of “insight” you have us used to.
Yes, really. That statement is so over the top it’s ridiculous. He “doesn’t fit the kind of midfield that won us CL and PL” but we reached the CL final again and missed out on the league title by 1 point with 92? It’s absurd to suggest that’s him making our other midfielders worse. Implying that it’s a requirement for our midfield to be full of workhorses is myopic as well, especially since it ignores how defensively impactful Thiago is.
Point stands. Midfield as a unit since he joined never looked as good as it did before he arrived.
For us he never was as good as he was for Bayern.
Struggled in his first season with us.
Did ok last season but he did not carry the team or something.
This season - like all the others - his game has fallen off a cliff. His passing is shocking at times.
Overall he did ok since he joined but never justified the hype and hard-ons posters had two and a half years ago.
Early contender for joke of the year. 
Thiago’s past his peak, that is clear.
That doesn’t mean he’s finished, to sign him at the age of 29 for his ‘last’ contract at the top level, those are still very healthy years if he’s available for his usual 35-40 games or so.
Even as such, he’s been arguably our best midfielder since coming here.
Whether we wanted it or not, evolution was bound to happen. What was there to press? We became a side that heavily started to have blocks ahead of us. We had to keep our pressing/counter pressing principles, but take our control of games to a new level, which manifested in last season.
Do I have to remind what was our plan after Kiev? We already signed Keita the summer before even, signed Fabinho and were chasing Fekir. Keita never really became what we thought/hoped he would be, so the necessity for a similar player was always there.
When did Thiago struggle? In the first few weeks after coming back from injury, yes, when we also had our other two midfielders playing in defence. He was too aggressive. Also when Klopp did the following; playing him as the single pivot or very high up the pitch or as the highest #8 of the two, at RCM. Not. Thiago’s. Role.
But still, the quality he managed to provide, because he’s such a good player, it shone through. His end of the 20/21 season was already high quality.
Thiago’s defensive game and engine (despite it not being his strong point of course) is criminally underrated by some, not only us mortal fans outside the game, but the likes of Didi Hamann and John Barnes. If you never saw Thiago play, you’d think we’re playing a 35-year old Mesut Ozil at CM.
His off the ball stats at Bayern were better than some of our own workhorses here. His pace over the first few yards is still there, Klopp himself says that it’s a quality of his. Look at his technique at headers, how many he wins them. It’s how kids should learn how to go into heading duels.
Tackles? Yeah, sometimes he overdoes them, too aggressive. Passes and fancy stuff? Yeah, sometimes makes a few mistakes on the ball.
One thing I can say is that he sometimes overdoes the motion of things, wants it really to look beautiful and then he can misplace a pass, then try to repare his mistake with a hard tackle. I actually thought he would be a more “calmer” player, if that makes sense.
And at the end, Jesus Christ the type of midfielders we’ve had to watch here a lot of the time.
What did we really have since 00’s onwards when we talk about proper technical CM’s who are also highly responsible in their overall game? Apart from the obvious Gerrard, Alonso, etc.
This also has to do with fans being used to something else and probably thinking it’s the only way forward, just to always keep buying the same type of player and never change anything. It’s fear.
I said when Gini left that I think we need someone like Thiago, but not at any cost. That was a better player than the deal, if you know what I mean. But also, we had to add a new dynamic CM. That is true, we’ve put a bit too much focus on other positions and now we are where we are, we’ll do this in the summer of 2023.
Rafa’s Liverpool became better with time after winning the first few and unfortunately only trophies with us. Does that mean we had to keep signing the type of player like Igor Biscan or not let other evolutions happen like Javier Mascherano replacing Momo Sissoko?
Thiago at Liverpool as an individual case is a successful story so far. The fact that Liverpool had issues in 20/21 and so far in 22/23 has more to do with the general situation here. I wish we had him straight at the start of Klopp here, that is not even questionable. So, some things cannot be perfectly timed.
Vintage Thiago at Liverpool today. No energy. No intensity. Shit tackling. Did not help the backline.
He used to be the best passer of the ball but I’m slowly getting used to him being shit at that too.
But hey, joga bonito tiki taka and stuff.
YNWA Thiago
Genuinely pissed myself at this. 
You never wanted him
I wanted him but frankly he’s not what we require any more. Thanks for a memorable previous season mate.
For me we dont have the players available that play at his level or style, but this season, without him, we would be far worse off as he has been our best midfielder
Just doesn’t fit the team, it’s ok if he has high intensity midfielders around him doing all the work, but we don’t have that any more.
No assists
No goals
Yeah he splays a nice 50 yard pass over to Mo now and again ( who ultimately loses it ), and he looks cool out there, but what else does he do?
He’s fucked, he’s played very minute since after Christmas because he’s the only one actually winning duels. Another player we’ve ran into he ground because the alternatives aren’t pulling their weight.
Totally agree and for me he his trying too hard to do everything