Real Madrid legend claims Thiago’s poor form is the fault of his Liverpool teammates

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Roberto Carlos has claimed that Thiago Alcantara’s teammates are to be blamed for the Spain international’s perceived poor form at Liverpool, as reported by EFE (via Sport Witness).

The No.6 has come under fire for his performances this term, most notably his defensive contributions, with Jamie Carragher having previously labelled the midfielder a “defensive liability”.

“Liverpool used to have the ball to the forwards and Thiago has arrived with his quality, he begins to play and the teammates haven’t adapted to his style of play,” the former fullback said. “The problem isn’t Thiago, it’s the change in style of teammates who were used to playing with long balls.”

READ MORE: Klopp glad to avoid Premier League rivals as Liverpool face Madrid in the quarter finals

The Liverpool midfielder seemed to come alive with Fabinho’s return to the midfield

Was Thiago’s ‘poor form’ the fault of his teammates?

Given the loss of key midfielders to defence, with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson dropped to the backline to cover for our injured centre-halves, the overlooking of the disruption to the first-XI is just ludicrous.

The common denominator of Thiago’s best performances for Liverpool – arguably the first Merseyside derby, within which he was injured, and the second-leg of the Last 16 tie with RB Leipzig – was the return of our No.3 to the middle of the park.

Carlos is partially right, in that the loss of the Brazilian had hit the former Bayern man particularly hard, with Jurgen Klopp asking him to sacrifice his forward play to contribute to defensive work.

With Fabinho back in his favoured position, however, it was clear for all to see how much freedom it inspired within the Spaniard, who could deliver the kind of performances that first attracted the recruitment team’s gaze ahead of the prior summer.

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