Dean Jones has suggested that Thiago Alcantara’s time at Liverpool ‘just hasn’t worked out’ amid another spell in the treatment room.
The Spanish midfielder has earned plenty of plaudits in a trophy-filled career that has spanned across several of Europe’s top-flights, with Gary Neville insistently labelling the former Bayern star ‘world-class’ prior to his Anfield switch (Sky Sports via the Daily Express).
“It’s just been frustrating, hasn’t it? We’ve seen flashes of what he’s capable of and we know what a brilliant technician he is, but it just hasn’t worked out,” the reporter told GIVEMESPORT. “Obviously, Jurgen Klopp managed to get him through the door and it was a big surprise when it happened.”
The Reds are yet to set a fixed return date for their key star, though there are no doubts that Jurgen Klopp will be missing his most technical midfielder ahead of what looks set to be a season-defining April run of fixtures.
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Injuries have plagued Thiago’s time in the red half of Merseyside, though to suggest that things haven’t worked for him at the club is quite harsh given how integral a role he’s taken up since his first season.
Prior to his injury, the former Barcelona man was keeping the boat afloat as far as combativeness in the middle of the park was concerned, outperforming fellow seniors Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for challenges.
A look at his numbers on FBref quite clearly demonstrates that the playmaker is in a league of his own when it comes to defensive contributions compared to his peers at Liverpool, registering in the 91st and 94th percentile for tackles and interceptions respectively. Both our skipper (26th and 24th percentile) and No.3 (54th and 70th percentile) simply don’t compare over the course of the last 365 days.
Fortunately, there have been signs of improvement from the pair in recent weeks and hopefully they can find some consistency ahead of our visit to the Etihad.