Thiago Alcantara, The Pipeline of Liverpool’s Midfield
How the Spaniard became the heart of the Liverpool midfield
Thiago Alcantara, Liverpool’s midfielder, is one of the most exciting football players at the age of 31.
The Spanish midfielder, who joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich on 18 September 2020, has been exceptional for the Reds since then. Thiago Alcantara has had a successful club career, having played for Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and now Liverpool. He’s one of the finest midfielders in the world, and he’s also a star for Spain on the international scene.
Thiago has a unique style of playing; when he is on the ball, he is literally fascinating; his accuracy, the way he finds the wingers going in, he’s a deep-lying playmaker with exceptional vision and passing abilities.
The first touch, surely Thiago’s feet have a different relationship with the ball. His dropping technique, rolling forward and cutting off opponents with a gentle touch simply make me pay to witness this man on the pitch.
He had a very good and bad start for Liverpool. Just after two days of signing a four-year contract, Thiago made his Liverpool debut on September 20th, coming off the bench at halftime in a 2–0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Mr. Worldwide (Thiago’s nickname) made a world record on his debut for Liverpool; this guy has the most passes completed by a Premier League player who played a maximum of 45 minutes, completing 75 successful passes.
The way he walked on the pitch against Chelsea, it was expected he was here to break some records. On September 29th, he established a new record for the most passes made in 45 minutes as a substitute.
Thiago is a versatile footballer who played as an offensive midfielder for Bayern Munich in 2016/17. Thiago had the highest passing accuracy in the Bundesliga (90.2 percent) and was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season for the 2016/17 season.
Game making
If Thiago is not on the pitch, you will instantly realize his absence; he is a type of player who is excellent at linking defence and attack. Thiago’s positioning has been phenomenal at Liverpool, and he creates that vast space for any player to pass him.
He is a very decorated player carrying a tiki-taka style play when he is on the ball; in counter situations, his calmness on the ball and long-range passing technique ends in scoring or assisting against the opposition.
He appears to be a box-to-box midfielder who is always in the right place at the right time. His robust tackling and long-range shooting are also impressive. He can find a perfect pass no matter how good the defensive team is lining up.
Since I’ve watched Thiago play at Liverpool, I’ve seen that he has total control of the game while he’s on the pitch. In this Liverpool team, he’s a premium player. Even though he is capable of playing defensive midfield, Klopp prefers to keep him in a neutral role.
His latest performance against Manchester United at Anfield on 20th April 2022 was my favorite; the midfield maestro Thiago stood out amongst his brilliant teammates. Liverpool’s no .6 had some fun against their league rivals that night. His skill-set and dominance in the game earned him the man of the match award.
Look at his crazy numbers against MU.
Since his arrival in Merseyside, Thiago has been quite comfortable with Jurgen Klopp and company. He has a very good bond with Mo Salah; Thiago is a jolly kinda person as we have seen in pre-sessions and post-match interviews. He also does that freestyle show while warming up at Anfield before games.
He has an effective connection with Fabinho, and the midfield duo has gone undefeated in the 18 matches they have started together, winning 17 of them in the process.
When it comes to Thiago’s effect on the team’s performance, he has again made a difference in the Liverpool squad. Liverpool surrendered four goals while preserving 12 clean sheets in 17 games. Liverpool has surrendered one goal in six league starts this season when Thiago has started. When Thiago hasn’t started, Liverpool has conceded 11 goals in nine games.
Thiago with Spain
In a friendly against Italy in August 2011, he made his first appearance for the national team. He made his competitive debut for the national team in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein.
Final words
For me, Thiago is a true team man. I will place him on the list of best midfielders. I would say that he is the most underrated player; after witnessing his performances at the three biggest clubs, I believe it’s unfair that Thiago has been overlooked many times when it comes to individual awards.
When looking at his previous seventeen starts for Liverpool, Alcântara has completely transformed the Reds, and he deserves that hug. In upcoming games we will see more from Mr. Worldwide.
After his performance against Manchester United, Martin Tyler said as Thiago was leaving the field to a standing ovation: “he didn’t get on the pitch, he dominated the pitch.”
