Liverpool struck a deal to sign Arthur at the start of the season but it now looks like a disaster after another setback at the club. The Reds needed him against Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool fell to a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday after a terrible performance. The Reds failed to control the game, always looking vulnerable on the counter-attack against a team constantly seeking it.
In that respect, they missed Thiago. The Spaniard is their controller, the player who gets his foot on the ball and resists the press. Curtis Jones, who stepped in for Thiago, was instead the trigger for Forest’s press – they hit him every time he got the ball in the middle.
Thiago was supposed to start, however. Jurgen Klopp admitted after the game that he was a late withdrawal and Jones, as a result, had to play centre-midfield on late notice.
The Scouser may one day be okay in the role – he’s got the physicality for it, while Jones has always been good at progressing the ball – but right now, he’ll contribute more from the left.
Instead, this was a game for Arthur. He just wasn’t there.
Liverpool find disaster with Arthur deal
Arthur’s great strength in this Liverpool squad is that he can offer Thiago’s role. The Spaniard is frequently injured and the Reds find themselves without an adequate replacement.
But Liverpool never even intended to find cover. Arthur was a late-in-the-day signing on loan from Juventus, with little fanfare or evident planning. Still, at least they had someone – someone with genuine quality.
Only, Arthur couldn’t play right away as he hadn’t had a proper pre-season. That delayed his involvement until after the latest international break. Once he was back, however, the Brazilian picked up an injury that rules him out for months. Possibly until the end of January.
So essentially, Liverpool had a chance to find cover for a key player in the summer. They first decided not to and simply didn’t sign anyone before the season. By the time they’d changed their mind, the options weren’t there – only a risk in Arthur.
They then take that risk – one that may or may not work out on the pitch – and he’s immediately injured. Now Liverpol can’t use him, even if he would provide cover. We may never actually find out if he’s adequate cover.
All we know for sure is that Liverpool don’t have cover for Thiago and it shows when he’s out of the team. It’s hard to think of the Arthur signing as anything other than an absolute disaster right now.
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