The Reds midfielder pulled another impressive performance against United, but a club legend feels there is still a problem to solve.
Dietmar Hamann reckons Thiago Alcantara doesn’t play the Liverpool way and is concerned his presence could force Jurgen Klopp to alter his system.
The former Bayern Munich star joined Liverpool on a four-year deal in September, but he’s made just five league appearances so far due to knee problems and a positive COVID-19 test.
After returning at the end of December, however, Thiago has played in each of Liverpool’s last four matches. He has also started the previous two league outings, including the 0-0 draw against title rivals Manchester United last weekend.
“He slows things down and doesn’t really play the way Liverpool play,” former Reds midfielder Hamann told talkSPORT.
“Liverpool in the past have had hard-working midfielders, they were not as skillful as Thiago, but they gave the ball to [Sadio] Mane and [Mohamed] Salah early.
😫 “Thiago slows things down & doesn’t play the way Liverpool play.”
👍 “They had midfielders less skilful but who played the ball quickly.”
🔴 “Thiago likes possession but #LFC were good playing quickly.”@DietmarHamann isn’t sure if Thiago’s the right fit at Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/ZG10119xs6
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 19, 2021
“If you get the ball early on the wing, and these guys can run at players they are very hard to stop.
“I just feel with Thiago, everyone was raving about him coming to Liverpool, he’s hardly played. He came on against Chelsea and had the most passes in the second half, against a Chelsea team that was down to 10 men.
“He came on against Newcastle in the last 25 minutes, Newcastle were dead on their feet, everyone was raving about how good he is.
“I can tell you, he’s a good player, a skillful player. But there was never a time in Munich where people said, ‘oh he’s the first on the teamsheet’. So I’d be very cautious when it comes to Thiago.
“And the other thing is, as other people alluded to earlier, he plays a different style of football. He likes to be in possession.
“Liverpool were always good when they weren’t in possession, won it and played quickly forward.
“He’s not that type of player, so it will be very interesting when he does play more often now how it’s going to change the dynamics of the team.”
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