Liverpool face Thiago Alcantara reality as injury problem becomes clear

Liverpool face Thiago Alcantara reality as injury problem becomes clear

Thiago Alcantara is set to be Liverpool’s only absent senior – but how much should Jurgen Klopp rely on the Spaniard?

Amid Alisson Becker’s impassioned speech after last week’s Champions League loss to Real Madrid, the Liverpool keeper briefly reflected on what went wrong this season.

“We had injuries, I don’t think we like to talk about that in football,” he said. “We won’t use that as an excuse, but the injuries are certainly hurting us. Now there’s only one player left, so that’s no longer an excuse.”

It was not Alisson’s intention to overlook Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsay, who both ended their seasons through injury but are still at the start of their respective Liverpool careers. But with the Reds hoping Luis Diaz will be back in team training when players not on international duty meet at the AXA training center early next week, meaning Thiago Alcantara is the only senior member of the team currently in the treatment room with a long-term problem. although approaching a return to action.

While potentially having so many players available is a rarity for Jurgen Klopp, the fact that Thiago isn’t one of them has been a recurring theme since the Spaniard’s arrival from Bayern Munich in September 2020.

The midfielder, who turns 32 next month, has missed his last eight games with a hip problem after starting all ten games for the Reds since the season resumed after the World Cup he missed against his country was neglected.

It is Thiago’s second absence of the season after limping off just after half-time in the opening weekend tie at Fulham in August with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for five games. He also missed the defeat at Nottingham Forest in October and the Champions League victory at Ajax a few days later with an ear infection. Thiago has missed 15 of Liverpool’s 40 games this season through injury. Last season, he sat out 22 out of 63 times due to fitness issues. And during his first Reds campaign, he missed 20 games out of 51. That’s an availability rate of around 63%.

And when Thiago is fit he is more likely to play. Only twice he didn’t come off the bench when he was substituted, only once he was dropped from the team completely. Of his 93 assignments, 71 were starters. However, he only played the full 90 minutes 31 times

The midfielder, who turns 32 next month, has missed his last eight games with a hip problem after starting all ten games for the Reds since the season resumed after the World Cup he missed against his country was neglected.

It is Thiago’s second absence of the season after limping off just after half-time in the opening weekend tie at Fulham in August with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for five games. He also missed the defeat at Nottingham Forest in October and the Champions League victory at Ajax a few days later with an ear infection. Thiago has missed 15 of Liverpool’s 40 games this season through injury. Last season, he sat out 22 out of 63 times due to fitness issues. And during his first Reds campaign, he missed 20 games out of 51. That’s an availability rate of around 63%.

And when Thiago is fit he is more likely to play. Only twice he didn’t come off the bench when he was substituted, only once he was dropped from the team completely. Of his 93 assignments, 71 were starters. However, he only played the full 90 minutes 31 times.

And with arguably his best running form at Liverpool, starting nine of the last ten games in which the Reds somehow secured Champions League qualification two years ago, Thiago has shown he can deliver to the end of a season.

If Liverpool are to secure another unlikely top four finish, they will most likely need their scheming Spaniard to push them out of the engine room again.