"When Thiago plays" - John Barnes praises the Spaniard

Former Liverpool player John Barnes has given his opinion on Reds midfielder Thiago Alcantara.

The club signed the Spaniard from Bayern Munich for a transfer fee of £19.80 million.

However, Thiago has had his injury problems since joining the Reds. Therefore, we have not seen as much of the 31-year-old as we would have liked.

But, there is no denying that Liverpool are a different side when Thiago is playing. Barnes has explained why that is the case.

As quoted by Anfield Watch on Twitter, he told BonusCodeBets the following: "When Thiago plays we play, I think that means in terms of our creativity and our dominating the ball and play in tight areas.

"But of course on the converse of that when we lose the ball there are times where teams are getting at us because we haven’t got those three hard working midfield players. So we’re tinkering with getting the balance right.

"In possession, we’re equally as good or creative with Thiago. But out of possession you can see we’re giving the opposition some chances because of the nature of the midfield that we actually have. If it’s Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho, we can compliment that."

Anfield Watch Verdict

Thiago is one of the most technically gifted players in world football. There isn't much that the midfielder can't do.

It's a shame that Thiago is at the backend of his career. We would love to watch the Spaniard at Anfield for several more years.

Thiago is contracted until the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign. Therefore, the Liverpool supporters will be able to sit back and watch the 31-year-old for at least a couple more years.