Mark Lawrenson has stated that Thiago Alcantara’s injury problems are the biggest flaw in the Liverpool midfielder’s game despite his world-class qualities.
Speaking on Off The Ball’s Football Saturday Show, the pundit went in on the Spain international about how every injury Thiago endures, no matter how small it is, always seems to take the midfielder some time to recover from and to return to his best.
Thiago has endured another hard season in the Premier League with the £20m playmaker missing 16 games this campaign through injury, and a good case can be made that the 32-year-old has looked well below his best for the majority of the campaign.
And for Lawrenson, these injuries are a problem, with the former Liverpool star saying: “When he’s played, he’s been really, really good. The disappointment is he gets in the team and he looks like a world-class player still. And then he just gets injured and it’s like, he nicks his calf, it’s never anything serious but he’s chasing his fitness all the time.
“Which is a pity, as when you see him play and play well he does stuff on the pitch which other players just don’t see. But then if he’s not playing well, he’s one of three in there and he’s not going to press.”
Thiago could find himself out at Liverpool due to injury issues
There’s no denying that, based on pure individual quality, Thiago is arguably one of the best players in the Premier League. Yet with the midfielder spending nearly half the season out through injury, and not for the first time with Liverpool, the Reds can be forgiven for wanting to cut their losses with the 32-year-old.
With Jurgen Klopp set to change the midfield this summer, offloading Thiago could be a rash yet smart decision in the long-term in getting Liverpool back to their best, with the midfielder a player who the Reds could now afford to offload for the right price.
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