Thiago Alcantara ready to shine for Liverpool after a year of false starts

With the exception of Virgil Van Dijk, no Liverpool signing of the Jurgen Klopp era has been received as enthusiastically as Thiago Alcantara.

Exactly one year ago on Saturday, Thiago completed his £20 million move from Bayern Munich and the dream Liverpool midfield seemed to be in place. The Spanish maestro made his full debut alongside Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in the Merseyside derby a couple of weeks later. For a multitude of reasons - specifically last season’s horrendous injury list - the trio have never started together in their preferred positions since.

“Wow,” was Jurgen Klopp’s response upon being reminded of that curious fact. “There is a good reason why, obviously.”

After suffering a shin injury that afternoon at Goodison Park, Thiago spent the next three months rehabilitating.

By the time he was fit again, Thiago returned to a world without senior Liverpool centre-backs in which Fabinho or Henderson were covering for Van Dijk, and then the captain would miss the second half of the season with a groin problem. Thiago took on an awkward-looking number six role in which he was a ball retriever and serial yellow card collector as much as playmaker. It is no coincidence the most consistent demonstrations of his true quality came in the closing weeks of the campaign when Fabinho was restored to midfield.

The initial fanfare around Thiago and what he might bring to Anfield has died down now, yet the circumstances at the start of this season are more conducive for the 30-year-old to flourish in an evolving Liverpool midfield.

Thiago should be one of the main beneficiaries of the subtle but perceptible change in the dynamic of Liverpool’s central three.

The 2019 Champions League and 2020 Premier League triumphs were built on the midfield of Henderson, Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum or James Milner, laying the foundations for the strikers to wreak havoc while covering the forward sprints of full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.

Wijnaldum’s exit created a vacancy for a more creative force, which is why last weekend’s injury to Harvey Elliott is such a cruel setback. Although entrusted with certain defensive responsibilities, Elliott is a more offensive midfielder in the Adam Lallana rather than Wijnaldum mould.

Confident in his alternative options, Klopp intends to keep making tweaks which will tilt Liverpool’s midfield balance even more towards attack.

“We try to develop every year,” explained Klopp. “The door is very open for everybody to be part of that. It worked out really well with Harvey. It was nice to see how naturally he did that. He didn’t need a lot of advice.

“Now Hendo played the position (against AC Milan) and Naby (Keita) came in on the other side and played a super game offensively, really dominant.

“It’s a complex position to be the number eight for us. We use different skill sets from time to time when we think it makes sense against a particular opponent. Sometimes it is the idea to make more runs in behind, and sometimes you want to be more naturally offensive or more naturally defensive. That’s the reason for different line-ups.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones are also determined to be part of the weekly midfield conversation, but if Thiago becomes a dominant influence this season, Liverpool will have the added dimension they envisioned when he signed.

“There are some natural skills which the boys’ have. In Thiago’s case, that is for sure,” said Klopp. “If you were writing under a headline, all the technical stuff is easy for him. Yes, he has to and has had to adapt to the way we defend.

“I don’t ask him for constant runs beyond the last line. He is a playmaker, obviously, who can sometimes be a little deeper, but he must be there in the two ‘interesting’ lines of the opponent as well. In a closed area with his passing he is really good, and he can chip balls into each area like a golfer, actually. A good golfer. A world-class golfer!

“He does that without even thinking. I love the way he plays. Thiago showed what kind of a player he can and will be for us, so there is much more to come, of course.”