Thiago Alcantara

[Doc_Piptorious]

...thought he ran his socks off last night. Still puts the boot in and mis-times a few but he's having to do a role he's not 100% suited to. He does make us much better in possession and his vision and range of passing is subtle and clever for the mostpart. He plays the ball that our midfielders have been reluctant to... he's the one who will make us tick when Hendo and Fab and around him.

People keep saying Fernandes changed Utd and he's just one player, but Thiago hasn't done that with us... Well, Fernandes was given a free rein, not a specific role and he just wandered all over the place when Utd where playing ****e and fairly static - hence he stood out head and shoulders above everyone else. Thiago is a playing a disciplined role and is putting in a shift each game which will help his fitness. He'll be a superstar next season in a stronger first team...

Totally agree.

And again last night he was good playing under the radar. Did an awful lot of the donkey work and did it in a very quick unassuming way.

Worst culprit for wasting his passes again last night was Firmino. He must have miscontrolled at least 4 passes from Thiago that if he has controlled them he was in a little pocket of space.

Thiago more than passed the eye test for me last night but just took a look at some of his stats for his 72 mins last night.

72 mins played
92.5% pass accuracy
40 passes made
2 tackles won
2 clearances
1 interception
I block
2 aerial duels won
0 dispossessions (as in the ball taken from him)


Eye test and stats both show a very efficient defensive display


and for context, Wijnaldum and Jones.

Wijnaldum

90 mins played
86% pass accuracy
36 passes made
2 tackles won
1 clearance
1 interceptions
0 blocks
0 aerial duels won
2 dispossessions



Jones

90 mins played
79% pass accuracy
43 passes made including one key pass
1 tackle won
3 clearances
1 interception
0 blocks
1 aerial duel won
0 dispossessions


Jones pass accuracy reflecting him playing in the more advanced role any time we were on the ball and having to attempt more higher risk passes.

For me the stats just back up what I thought I was seeing, and that Thiago and Jones were the better of the midfield starting trio.

Jones' stats are impressive imo considering his age and the fact he was shuttling up the pitch to try and link with the attack as well as coming back to do his share of the defensive work against a team tha did press well and that did not give him a lot of time on the ball.

[Buzzo]

I thought the midfield three did well last night. Leipzig are a decent team, it was a battle in there, but we won it.

[Doc_Piptorious]

None of our starting XI played poorly last night. We were against a good team and for all the talk after the game of how RBL were average or ****e and that they have some crap players and what not, I saw plenty on here posting before the game that they were expecting us to lose and what not.


I saw and still see the RBL games as having the potential to go like the Atalanta games. They are the sort of team we can carve open, but at the same time the sort of team that only need a few things to go their way for them to score freely against us.

They had a few players last night that did not seem to be playing to their usual standards like Angelino, Sabitzer,and Olmo. They were not bad but not as fluid as they usually are in attack Angelini in particular was not as clinical as he can be. Hopefully they are the same again in three weeks and after that they can go back to playing well in any other match they like.

Fully expect Nagelsmann to do his usual and field a very different team in their next domestic match and probably start maybe four or five players in the next game against us that did not start last night. He seems to chop and change his team almost every game and he moves that back line around amost game to game at times too as well as switching from three at the back to four at the back (they look way more solid when they go four at the back and play 433 or 4321)

[Pablo]

I thought he was a bit more composed in the tackle the other night. Stayed on his feet a little bit more. Hoping for more of that going forwards.

As for his fitness it's still a tiny bit of a worry. Was he often subbed for Dortmund? He's such a key player that you wouldn't normally dream of subbing, but if he's gassed by 70 minutes we have little option.

I wonder if he might be suffering from a bit of long covid affects?

[Exiled_red]

I thought he was a bit more composed in the tackle the other night. Stayed on his feet a little bit more. Hoping for more of that going forwards.

As for his fitness it's still a tiny bit of a worry. Was he often subbed for Dortmund? He's such a key player that you wouldn't normally dream of subbing, but if he's gassed by 70 minutes we have little option.

I wonder if he might be suffering from a bit of long covid affects?

I can confidently say he wasn't.




... Not sure about his time in Munich though

[Pablo]

I can confidently say he wasn't.




... Not sure about his time in Munich though

It's been a long day already!

[Exiled_red]

It's been a long day already!

same here

[Doc_Piptorious]

I thought he was a bit more composed in the tackle the other night. Stayed on his feet a little bit more. Hoping for more of that going forwards.

As for his fitness it's still a tiny bit of a worry. Was he often subbed for Dortmund? He's such a key player that you wouldn't normally dream of subbing, but if he's gassed by 70 minutes we have little option.

I wonder if he might be suffering from a bit of long covid affects?

Just looking at his starts for us and he has had eight starts and played the full 90 in six of them. Bit surprised by that as like you I was thinking that he was subbed off more than that.

What might be throwing my thinking off is the fact he has played in a number of games in which he was the sub coming on.

[Big-Red-Ed]

One thing I noticed the other night was how much Klopp was on his case

YNWA

[S-RED]

Thiiaaaaggggoooooo!!!!

[Rich]

One thing I noticed the other night was how much Klopp was on his case

YNWA

Hendo was as well.

[Slinky Skills]

Need this lad on form today.

[Kenneth]

Not getting it so far.

[Buzzo]

Seems like he needs more time on th ball than you are ever going to get in this league.

[cannotmakeit]

He has been ****