For all Thiago’s brilliance on the ball – and he is one of the most technically impressive players we’ve ever seen at Liverpool – his tackling off it is causing us big problems.
On Saturday, Thiago’s silly foul led to the freekick which saw Leicester equalise and Liverpool subsequently collapse.
And the fact of the matter is that no player in the Premier League is committing more fouls per 90 minutes than the Spaniard.
Against Leicester, Jordan Henderson had enough – screaming at his new team-mate to cut the fouls out.
Henderson shouting at Thiago like he’s a little boy in the game has finished me 😭😂 pic.twitter.com/N3gvbXscnZ
— eman (@emanechelon) February 13, 2021
As a result, our skipper was asked about Thiago’s influence in yesterday’s press-conference, and he gave a long and impassioned speech about the 30-year-old being a ‘phenomenal player’.
“Thiago has been brilliant since he came to the club,” the Liverpool skipper told the Echo. “Everybody knows how good a player he is, he is a world class player.
“Even off the field, he is a really good person, leads by example and gives everything. You learn a lot from him.
“He has been a fantastic addition to the squad.
“He will probably know Leipzig better than anyone and I am sure he will tell us one or two things over the next 24 hours.
“He has settled in really well, like I knew he would. He is a phenomenal player.
“Hopefully he can keep improving each time he plays for us and getting used to the way that we play as a team.”
Ideally, Thiago will be fielded in a trio with Hendo and Fabinho, two physical midfielders who are expert at winning the ball back and not diving in.
But he’s been with James Milner, Curtis Jones and Gini Wijnaldum due to injuries.
Perhaps it’s only fair to properly judge the former Bayern Munich man when he’s given less defensive responsibility.