Thiago was introduced in the 73rd minute last night for Liverpool v Newcastle – and you have to think we might have been able to carve out a winner if it had happened a little earlier.
He ran the show and made loads of smart, incisive forward passes – but the forwards were not at the races and couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
David Lynch shared how only four Newcastle players completed more passes than the Spaniard – while the Echo tweeted his exceptional overall state from such a short cameo.
On the upside for #LFC, I thought that was some cameo from Thiago Alcantara. Only four Newcastle players made more passes than him all night and he was only on the field 17 minutes. His vision and quality could make a big difference during the second half of the season.
— David Lynch (@dmlynch) December 30, 2020
Thiago at Newcastle 🔥
– 17 minutes played
– 29 touches
– 21 accurate passes
– 6/6 long balls
– 5/5 aerial duels
– 2 clearances
– 1 interception pic.twitter.com/pB2O5nIO1E— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) December 30, 2020
Next up is Southampton on Monday, January 4th, and we really hope Thiago is in the lineup.
He actually looked a little leggy towards the end of his 20-odd minutes, so it’s clear he now needs to build up his match fitness.
We hope Jurgen Klopp can name him from the beginning and perhaps take him off after the hour mark with the Reds already in a good position.