Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara has come under an unjust amount of criticism this season.
While it’s true the Spain international hasn’t entirely lived up to the hype, there are a lot of factors to consider.
Adjusting to a new team, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, injuries to key players, including himself, and being played out of his natural offensive midfield role – just to name a few.
Senior BBC journalist Phil McNulty took to Twitter at lunchtime on Monday to pile on Thiago, stating Liverpool’s No.6 has no assists to his name, and it didn’t go down well.
Led by Liverpool.com writer Joel Rabinowitz, supporters of the Reds hit back at the experienced journalist, backed up with facts and logic.
https://twitter.com/joel_archie/status/1386640752214675458
https://twitter.com/joel_archie/status/1386642625139286017
https://twitter.com/joel_archie/status/1386645239515996160
Thiago is still Liverpool's most creative midfielder this season though, just ahead of Jones. Also tops the league for progressive passes. When it comes to Liverpool's problems this season Thiago's quite far down a long list.
— James Nalton (@JDNalton) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/DanKennett/status/1386648036219265025
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What’s made clear by McNulty’s tweets is that he hasn’t seen much of Thiago actually playing football, or perhaps he’s falsely assumed the midfielder racks up the assists.
Much like Gini Wijnaldum over the last few years, with a dash more success – to be fair, Liverpool’s No.6 is the player who finds the pass before the assist – he breaks up the play and builds counter-attacks.
Labelling Thiago a ‘massive disappointment’ is bold, but if the former Bayern Munich star has disappointed anyone, it’s not as clear-cut as “Thiago bad.”