I don't think we have a player that has created more divisive opinions on this forum (Ox, Keita perhaps) ?
Personally I find him amazing, superb technical skills and vision, always looking to play forward and a player can that do which few others we have can ... deliberately slow the game down, when it's necessary, whilst retaining possession. I am so excited about seeing what he, and this team at full strength, can do together next season.
Anyway some comments and stats from his first season and a recent interview:
Circumstances
He arrived from Bayern Munich having barely had a break following their Champions League final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain in August. A Covid diagnosis in September was then followed by an ill-timed knee injury in October. When he finally returned in January, it was to a side ravaged by injuries and struggling for form.
"It was tough but I think I've had worse moments than that in my life," he says. "With calm, with work and with resilience, you can overcome all situations."
The circumstances were especially challenging for Thiago given he was already having to adapt to a new country and a new league.
On Injuries
"Looking back at this season, we had a lot of walls in front of us that we had to pull down," says Thiago. "It was like that. We had many important players injured and we had to create a new team and a new style - very similar to what we had, but with different players.
On the long ball
"At the beginning, I was surprised by the rhythm of the game and the long balls," he says. "Here, some teams have a lot of appreciation for how long balls can create big chances for them very quickly. And on the same point, the faster you put the ball in front, the faster it comes back."
On the speed of the game
When Thiago talks about "rhythm", he is not referring to the speed of play itself - "that's the same all over Europe," he says - but rather the speed at which the game resumes at every juncture.
"Throw-ins, corner kicks, goal kicks… everything happens at more speed here and you have to adapt to that," he says. "When there is a situation where you think you can breathe, the ball is already in play again."
Thiago with Fabinho in midfield.
On Fabinho :
"When I came here, I knew how Fabinho was as a football player, what he has done here and what he did at Monaco, but I didn't know him personally," says Thiago.
"He is a very smart and intelligent player. He knows how and where to be on the pitch, and he has great strength in challenges. He's there, he's strong and he wins all the battles for us.
"Sometimes he has to handle not just his own player but my player or another team-mate's player as well, but he does a great defensive job and you can see also that sometimes he goes forward in an offensive way and does amazingly for us as well."
On Klopp :
"He has been great since the beginning," Thiago says of Klopp, whose Borussia Dortmund side he faced numerous times during his first two seasons at Bayern.
"He's a very beloved person here in our team, our club and in the city as well. He's interesting and at the same time he's calm. He's hard work, but with comic words as well.
"It's very interesting to learn and to keep growing by his side."
Thiago believes has learnt plenty over the course of a season which, remarkably, will be the first of his senior career in which he has not won a trophy. In fact, it is only the second of the last 11 in which has not ended up a league-title winner.
On Not Winning a Trophy :
Thiago believes has learnt plenty over the course of a season which, remarkably, will be the first of his senior career in which he has not won a trophy. In fact, it is only the second of the last 11 in which has not ended up a league-title winner.
"The feeling that I have without a title or a trophy this year is about how hard it is to get it," he says.
"For me, the experience I've had here is my trophy this year," he says.
"To join this team, to train with these players every day, to join the league, to visit many new stadiums and play against great teams… I think those feelings are so important."
Personally I find him amazing, superb technical skills and vision, always looking to play forward and a player can that do which few others we have can ... deliberately slow the game down, when it's necessary, whilst retaining possession. I am so excited about seeing what he, and this team at full strength, can do together next season.
Anyway some comments and stats from his first season and a recent interview:
Circumstances
He arrived from Bayern Munich having barely had a break following their Champions League final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain in August. A Covid diagnosis in September was then followed by an ill-timed knee injury in October. When he finally returned in January, it was to a side ravaged by injuries and struggling for form.
"It was tough but I think I've had worse moments than that in my life," he says. "With calm, with work and with resilience, you can overcome all situations."
The circumstances were especially challenging for Thiago given he was already having to adapt to a new country and a new league.
On Injuries
"Looking back at this season, we had a lot of walls in front of us that we had to pull down," says Thiago. "It was like that. We had many important players injured and we had to create a new team and a new style - very similar to what we had, but with different players.
On the long ball
"At the beginning, I was surprised by the rhythm of the game and the long balls," he says. "Here, some teams have a lot of appreciation for how long balls can create big chances for them very quickly. And on the same point, the faster you put the ball in front, the faster it comes back."
On the speed of the game
When Thiago talks about "rhythm", he is not referring to the speed of play itself - "that's the same all over Europe," he says - but rather the speed at which the game resumes at every juncture.
"Throw-ins, corner kicks, goal kicks… everything happens at more speed here and you have to adapt to that," he says. "When there is a situation where you think you can breathe, the ball is already in play again."
Thiago with Fabinho in midfield.
On Fabinho :
"When I came here, I knew how Fabinho was as a football player, what he has done here and what he did at Monaco, but I didn't know him personally," says Thiago.
"He is a very smart and intelligent player. He knows how and where to be on the pitch, and he has great strength in challenges. He's there, he's strong and he wins all the battles for us.
"Sometimes he has to handle not just his own player but my player or another team-mate's player as well, but he does a great defensive job and you can see also that sometimes he goes forward in an offensive way and does amazingly for us as well."
On Klopp :
"He has been great since the beginning," Thiago says of Klopp, whose Borussia Dortmund side he faced numerous times during his first two seasons at Bayern.
"He's a very beloved person here in our team, our club and in the city as well. He's interesting and at the same time he's calm. He's hard work, but with comic words as well.
"It's very interesting to learn and to keep growing by his side."
Thiago believes has learnt plenty over the course of a season which, remarkably, will be the first of his senior career in which he has not won a trophy. In fact, it is only the second of the last 11 in which has not ended up a league-title winner.
On Not Winning a Trophy :
Thiago believes has learnt plenty over the course of a season which, remarkably, will be the first of his senior career in which he has not won a trophy. In fact, it is only the second of the last 11 in which has not ended up a league-title winner.
"The feeling that I have without a title or a trophy this year is about how hard it is to get it," he says.
"For me, the experience I've had here is my trophy this year," he says.
"To join this team, to train with these players every day, to join the league, to visit many new stadiums and play against great teams… I think those feelings are so important."
