Liverpool: Has Thiago Alcantara regressed since making his Anfield switch?

We all saw the amazing level of Thiago Alcantara in his last season with Bayern Munich. He won the Bundesliga, Champions League, DFB Pokal plus, he was named in the FIFA FIFpro World XI.

He delighted the world with his great passing range and his dominance in the midfield in the best team in Europe and the world, which is Bayern. Many expected the Spaniard would be one of the best signings of the summer last year with his move to the Reds.

Surprisingly, this is not the case to date. Thiago and the Reds have probably had one of their worst seasons in many years. The Reds are placed 8th on the EPL table and Thiago is having one of the most uninfluential seasons of his career so far.

He has not had many minutes on the pitch and when he has gotten the opportunity to play he has not displayed his best form – injuries playing a massive role in this and kept him sidelined for a large part of the first half.

What happened to the Spanish maestro in his time at Liverpool?

More from Liverpool FC

• “Dreadful” Liverpool defender was shunned for being “miles off” vs Wolves
• Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp’s agent FINALLY addresses rumours he’ll leave
• Liverpool will rival Manchester City for colossal Premier League defender
• Liverpool are advancing in talks to extend the contract of “top professional”
• Liverpool lose captain for a further game after ban extended for “abusive” language

Thiago was known for being a star player at the Allianz Arena where he played 40 games in his final season for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring three goals and picking up two assists.

These maybe do not look like the best stats in Europe but his role at Bayern was more of a commander in the middle of the park, the guy where every ball had to land before going to the attacker.

He was a sniper with his long-range passes and on the short and medium passes he was amazing, averaging a 94% completion. This season his percentage went down to 92% which is not a big drop-off but every little stat counts. Also, he has zero goals and zero assists.

The main reason for his downfall can be that Thiago does not really fit Jurgen Klopp’s system. In Bayern, Thiago was more of a stationary player. He was always with the ball at his feet but did not have to move much because his teammates would always find him.

Bayern had a playing style where Thiago was freer in the center and Goretzka or Kimmich were the players in charge of running a lot and doing the hard work.

Klopp’s system is way different from that of Hansi Flick’s and what he used at the Bavarians last season.

The Reds play with three in the midfield where Thiago cannot be set free and most of the time he plays predominately on the side of the pitch where it is more difficult to have the ball at his feet and dictate the flow of the game.

This has harmed Liverpool’s system in defense since he is more of an attacking player. Also, it has interrupted how the Reds create opportunities with the Spain international not creating many chances.

Last year he created 19.7 goal opportunities per game. This season he is averaging 11.8 goal opportunities per game only, which is a clear downgrade.

This, including all of their injuries during the campaign, has affected Liverpool’s performances week in and week out with the maestro also being part of the long list of injuries at Anfield.

The Reds desperately needs Alcântara to recapture last season’s form because he is a key player for them due to his natural footballing ability.

The Reds are far off from making European qualification for next season and if injuries keep occurring at Anfield and their players do not improve their level of performances, things could get really complicated for Jurgen Klopp.

Do you think Thiago could improve before the season concludes? Can he help the Reds seal a European qualification spot for next season?