The Spanish midfielder is back fit after injuring his knee and ready to give Jurgen Klopp a big boost as the title race begins to heat up
It was only 20 minutes. Just a 20-plus pack, a few heads and a closed bullet.
And in the end, it wasn’t even enough to turn an attractive draw into a priceless win.
That didn’t stop Liverpool fans from getting excited though, and it shouldn’t.
Thiago Alcantara is back, and he is ready to finally get into the Premier League.
It has been the start of your life in England for the Spanish international. Having arrived at Anfield amid many stays back in September, he has so far been limited to just three appearances, a total of 155 minutes; one start, one half and, up at Newcastle on Wednesday, one very promising cameo.
That is not the case, of course. A positive coronavirus test disrupted his early weeks on Merseyside, and his season was interrupted by a fierce challenge from Richarlison Everton, who was left with a knee injury that kept him out for more than two months. .
Liverpool, in fairness, is doing well without it. They have moved to the top of the Premier League and progressed smoothly in the Champions League.
“What the other boys have done is amazing, to be honest,” Jurgen Klopp said after the game at Newcastle. “But we signed Thiago because we thought he was a great player, so you can imagine we would like him to be in the team!”
Certainly, if the former Bayern Munich man had given a big boost in a season full of problems. The perfect New Year’s present, you could call that.
Liverpool have been hit harder than most by injuries. Center supporters Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk are out for the long haul and another, Joel Matip, is still a few weeks away from fitness.
The impact of these absentees is clear, not only in defense but in the middle of the park as well. Fabinho, perhaps the best No. 6 in the league, had to move back, and Jordan Henderson is needed sometimes.
And with others injured, Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Curtis Jones had to play more minutes than excellent, with attention to the schedule.
The return of Thiago – as well as others such as James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Xherdan Shaqiri – is changing things. Not only does it give Klopp some wiggle space – he can soak Jones, for example, inside and out and keep the youngster fresh – but it also puts one of the middle players -best park in the world into the mix.
And the difference it makes cannot be overstated.
The evidence, albeit brief, was in Newcastle. Thiago replaced Milner on 73 minutes and Liverpool’s quality immediately improved. The substitute ended the game after completing more passes than all Newcastle players, bar Matty Longstaff, who played the full 90.
One of those passes, a sublime crossbar, helped out to Trent Alexander-Arnold, to create an opportunity that Sadio Mane could not somehow bring home.
Others were whipped around the corner, into the legs of forward and mid-range runners. Against teams involved in defense – think West Brom, who took an unexpected point from Anfield over Christmas – have the ability to break lines, to suddenly bring in speed and imagination. , essential. Few midfielders, very few players, do that better than Thiago.
Back on the way. Time to move on. Up the red! 💪🏾🔴 #YNWA @LFC pic.twitter.com/zho9EmbV2Z
– Thiago Alcantara (@ Thiago6) 30 December 2020
“He’s a great player,” Klopp said, though he was quick to pick up a warning note.
“From the 20 minutes he played, 12 were great,” he said. “And then it felt intense, which is normal. He only trained twice around the team, so there is still physical work to be done, some rhythm available. ”
For a player of such quality, it should not take too long to find.
Thiago is likely to start on the bench again at Southampton on Monday, and it will be interesting to see if Klopp uses him in the FA Cup at Aston Villa on Friday. He will definitely want to fly for the next game at Liverpool, at home to Manchester United on 17 January.
That already feels like it could be huge, an opportunity for the heroes to reaffirm their status as a title choice, and to launch a competitive balloon in the process.
The threat from real Manchester, with City looking ominous and United, inspired by Bruno Fernandes, sheds light on their early season struggles with a series of established wins under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They both expect to be there or from there come May.
Liverpool, however, are the team that will win. They may have fallen over the Christmas period – only time will tell how expensive these four fall points will be – but no team knows how to win like this one.
Despite their issues, they have only been beaten once in the league this season. And that came when Gomez and Van Dijk were available.
With Thiago back exploring and proving and creating, Klopp’s team should be supported to find their best form in 2021. He was signed as a game changer, one of the few players to a title-winning side could develop immediately.
The Reds worked harder to get what they did to anyone. He was a world-class footballer joining a world-class team under a world-class manager. The perfect combination.
Now, after a delayed start, Liverpool will find out what it can do. The perfect signing in January, as Klopp recently joked. A big welcome from the most challenging of campaigns.
‘Thiago Time’ is here. The heroes are about to get a lot stronger.