‘Reading him’: Opponents are ‘figuring out’ £200k-a-week Liverpool man – pundit

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Opponents are ‘figuring out’ Thiago’s trick at Liverpool, says Nedum Onuoha. It’s a worry for the Reds right now.

Thiago was one of the most dependable midfielders on the planet last season. That level seems a world away right now, though, as the Spaniard struggles at Liverpool.

There was no greater evidence of that than against Wolves. Thiago received the ball about 25 yards from Liverpool’s goal and tried his usual trick. He dropped his shoulder, dummied to go one way, then quickly shifted the ball to the other.

Only, it didn’t work. Thiago uses that skill to quickly create space for himself, drifting past defenders and moving through the lines. This time, however, Wolves won the ball back and quickly had a goal.

Nedum Onuoha, on punditry for ESPN, worries that teams have figured him out.

“Sometimes you can sense he is going to do the trick,” said Onuoha. “When the trick is going well, then it’s incredible.

“When certain players are reading him and sort of winning the ball off the back of it, then there is a lot of frustration in the crowd over some of the things he was trying to do.

“As you saw from the first goal, he gave the ball away 30 yards out from his own goal and tried to beat a man. Sometimes it doesn’t work. People are figuring that out, both on the field and in the stands as well.”

Thiago’s trick

It’s a difficult one. We’re not sure this is as much about players figuring him out, though, as it is Thiago not being at his best level.

Because when he’s sharp and has energy, you can’t figure him out. The way he drifts past players has worked at the absolute highest level for a decade and no one figured it out. The fact that it’s not working as well as it did merely suggests that Thiago isn’t sharp right now.

That’s partly a speed-of-thought thing and partly an energy thing. And he’s not alone in that – virtually everyone at Liverpool appears to be suffering in those two areas.

The big worry with Thiago, though, is whether he can get that level back. Someone like Trent Alexander-Arnold, who hasn’t been at his best, is 24 and will recover. Thiago, who is approaching 32, may not. At least, not in a Liverpool side that relies on high-energy pressing.

This is a massive year for the Spaniard, then. We’ll cross our fingers that things do click for him because on his day, he’s one of the best in the world.