Thiago Alcantara

[Buzzo]

It gives us options I suppose and with us playing twice a week all season we will need them.

The defence looked more solid than it had for a long time with Fab at the back... I can see him playing there a bit for us.

Midfield wise there are loads of tantalising options. Will also be interesting to see if playing with Thiago might work for Ox? The whole team seemed to play better when he came on.

[S-RED]

Such a conundrum.

Thiago, Hendo, Gini
Thiago, Fab, Hendo,
Thiago, Hendo, Keita
Thiago, Fab, Keita

& on & on.

Oh and what about, Ox, Millie, Jones, hahahahahhahaha

[Shaggy]

So who dropped out of our first XI if everyone is fit?

Gini?

Midfield of Henderson, Fab and Thiago?

It's crazy cos Gini, Hendo and Fab are all huge for us, but Thiago is so good that somebody has to drop out. I think they'll all rotate enough for none of them to feel they've been cast aside, but if it had to be one...it's got to be Gini hasn't it? Feels horrible saying that cos I love him and he's vital to us, but as I say Thiago is so good he has to be the first pick with everyone fit.

[Exiled_red]

It gives us options I suppose and with us playing twice a week all season we will need them.

The defence looked more solid than it had for a long time with Fab at the back... I can see him playing there a bit for us.

Midfield wise there are loads of tantalising options. Will also be interesting to see if playing with Thiago might work for Ox? The whole team seemed to play better when he came on.

I think if it's a case of getting your best players on the pitch then there is a strong arguement for Fabinho playing at CB and Thiago replacing him in the midfield, because he is a better footballer than Gomez or Matip, but obviously there are loads of other factors to consider there. If he is happy to play there regularly, if he can play at that level every week, what happens to Gomez and Matip, whether we are happy to rotate the defence or if we want a settled lineup etc.

Looking at midfield options at the moment up until Thiago the pecking order seemed to be: Henderson, Fabinho and Wijnaldum as first choice, Naby first back up then Milner and Ox next depending on whether we wanted an attacking or defensive option, and Jones as the youngster being developed. At the moment my guess would be that it's 3 from a 4 of Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Thiago with Naby pushing to make it a 5. Ox's injury means that Jones is the attacking option and Milner the defensive one. Thiago's arrival probably means less games for Milner more than anyone, if Jones can get some games I think that he could be moving ahead of Ox in the pecking order for the attacking slot.

I think that alot depends on what the situation with Wijnaldum is. It (still) doesn't appear that he is signing a new contract, the suggestion is that Barcelona won't be able to make a move for him this year, so it could be that he is leaving next summer. That may influence who gets game time later in the season (we don't want to marginalise someone that we want to keep next year), so we could see Gini being the one who misses out more and more as the season progresses.

[RedReet]

I think if it's a case of getting your best players on the pitch then there is a strong arguement for Fabinho playing at CB and Thiago replacing him in the midfield, because he is a better footballer than Gomez or Matip, but obviously there are loads of other factors to consider there. If he is happy to play there regularly, if he can play at that level every week, what happens to Gomez and Matip, whether we are happy to rotate the defence or if we want a settled lineup etc.

Looking at midfield options at the moment up until Thiago the pecking order seemed to be: Henderson, Fabinho and Wijnaldum as first choice, Naby first back up then Milner and Ox next depending on whether we wanted an attacking or defensive option, and Jones as the youngster being developed. At the moment my guess would be that it's 3 from a 4 of Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Thiago with Naby pushing to make it a 5. Ox's injury means that Jones is the attacking option and Milner the defensive one. Thiago's arrival probably means less games for Milner more than anyone, if Jones can get some games I think that he could be moving ahead of Ox in the pecking order for the attacking slot.

I think that alot depends on what the situation with Wijnaldum is. It (still) doesn't appear that he is signing a new contract, the suggestion is that Barcelona won't be able to make a move for him this year, so it could be that he is leaving next summer. That may influence who gets game time later in the season (we don't want to marginalise someone that we want to keep next year), so we could see Gini being the one who misses out more and more as the season progresses.

Can't see fab playing CB long-term. When we were linked wit Thiago and Fab played CB in pre-season I thought it was a clear indicator that we were considering playing him there to accommodate Thiago, but I still think ideally that would be against bus parkers, rather than in a regular set-up.

As good as Fab was yesterday (arguably MOTM), I don't think our defensive transformation was completely down to him. I had said before that I was dismissing our end of season form and the errors against Leeds and was wasn't worried about our defence. I would have expected a much improved performance overall whoever lined up beside VVD yesterday and fully expect if Gomez is fully fit, he'll be back for Arsenal.

[Exiled_red]

Can't see fab playing CB long-term. When we were linked wit Thiago and Fab played CB in pre-season I thought it was a clear indicator that we were considering playing him there to accommodate Thiago, but I still think ideally that would be against bus parkers, rather than in a regular set-up.

As good as Fab was yesterday (arguably MOTM), I don't think our defensive transformation was completely down to him. I had said before that I was dismissing our end of season form and the errors against Leeds and was wasn't worried about our defence. I would have expected a much improved performance overall whoever lined up beside VVD yesterday and fully expect if Gomez is fully fit, he'll be back for Arsenal.

I don't think it's an option I would go with myself but if you were trying to get you best footballers on the pitch I think there is an argument for it. Fabinho is a better all round footballer than either Gomez or Matip but obviously that isn't the only consideration.

[RedReet]

I don't think it's an option I would go with myself but if you were trying to get you best footballers on the pitch I think there is an argument for it. Fabinho is a better all round footballer than either Gomez or Matip but obviously that isn't the only consideration.

Don't get me wrong, I love the setup and would have no issues seeing us line up like that against anybody, but I just don't see Fab becoming our first choice CB as some are suggesting, barring serious injury to others of course.

[The_weatherman]

I think this is tactically a very big deal for us. We've seen in the past teams just sitting back and letting us have the ball, like Arsenal in recent games. Now we are taking that to the next level really, if Thiago made 75 successful passes in 45 minutes, after maybe one training session, what is he going to do against teams that camp in their own half for the whole game? Teams might have to rethink their strategy now.

[PTP]

wow - what a player

didn't realise how good he is. he's ****ing top top quality. I love the way his first touch he always seems to roll his foot over the ball using his studs to kill it and then he can ping wherever he wants.

he's super up for it as well. At 2-0 he tracked across the pitch and made a tackle and jumped up celebrating like he'd just scored

[Norbs]

I think this is tactically a very big deal for us. We've seen in the past teams just sitting back and letting us have the ball, like Arsenal in recent games. Now we are taking that to the next level really, if Thiago made 75 successful passes in 45 minutes, after maybe one training session, what is he going to do against teams that camp in their own half for the whole game? Teams might have to rethink their strategy now.

We still have a habit of playing too compact in their half allowing the play to suffocate, when we're most effective launching a counter attack. Need to relinquish a bit of possession occasionally

[Mr Pink]

I think it’s great that there’s not an obvious first 3 choice for midfield. Means no one will be resigned to being the backup and will keep everyone on their toes. Good to have competition within the squad.

I think one thing that Thiago will bring to the midfield too is leadership. Although we have a lot of talent in midfield, I always felt that when Hendo was out, we noticed such a drop in quality as we had no leader in there- I can see Thiago playing that role!

[McDermotX]

[Shaggy]

wow - what a player

didn't realise how good he is. he's ****ing top top quality. I love the way his first touch he always seems to roll his foot over the ball using his studs to kill it and then he can ping wherever he wants.

he's super up for it as well. At 2-0 he tracked across the pitch and made a tackle and jumped up celebrating like he'd just scored

That was ****ing great.

[Buzzo]

I reckon this is the most excited I've been about a signing since VVD.

He comes ready made though. Even VVD hadn't really proved it when he signed, though he was instantly amazing, as were Mane and Salah who came to us with something to prove. But in terms of an absolute top level winner joining us this is an amazing signing.

When did we ever sign a player that as well as making us better, he makes one of our CL rivals weaker? It is not the type of signing we have ever really made before. And we get him for £5m a year.

Cant wait to see how he develops

[BigChief]

The only two ready made stars that came to us which didn't disappoint me were John Barnes and Markus Babbel.