Thiago Alcantara

[lebron]

6 minutes ago, Sparky said:

 

Lovely. Maybe you could post it in the summer transfer thread as well?

[No2]

38 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

I wasn't as impressed with his performance as others seem to be. He's obviously a class player but so far is a bit of a luxury player and still tends to choose the difficult option far too much.

I'd agree, all the great stuff is useless if you undo it with a moment of madness. He somehow avoided one certain yellow card in the first half with a reckless tackle and flew in and won a couple of others, smarter opposition would have taken advantage of those situations and had him sent off. He appears to play one reckless pass per match, against City or Bayern he needs to cut that shit out.

[TheHowieLama]

Smarter opposition would have got him sent off for tackles he won?

[No2]

Just now, TheHowieLama said:

Smarter opposition would have got him sent off for tackles he won?

Yeah 

[3 Stacks]

His performances on the whole are almost always world class. But it's true that he usually seems intent on ruining them with some stupid moments here and there.

[TheHowieLama]

Just now, No2 said:

Yeah 

How?

[No2]

Just now, TheHowieLama said:

How?

Better players see situations earlier and take advantage of wild tackles, Fabinho is a master at it. 

[TheHowieLama]

1 minute ago, No2 said:

Better players see situations earlier and take advantage of wild tackles, Fabinho is a master at it. 

So you are saying he wouldn't have won those tackles?

[No2]

Just now, TheHowieLama said:

So you are saying he wouldn't have won those tackles?

He may still have won them but not in the clean manner he did. My point is the risk versus reward doesn't add up, its Watford in their own half. He's too old to be making daft decisions like he does once or twice every game. 

[Mook]

8 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I like Thiago but he has a tendency to have a once in a game brainfart that could be costly. His attempt to stop the ball going out for a throw near the halfway line that set up a Watford attack is an example.

 

Thankfully, we seem to get away with it. Long may it continue!

 

He wasn't getting away with it last season when our centre backs were all out for months and Alisson was playing like he'd had a stroke.

 

He's been a lucky boy a few times this season & could seriously do with cutting that shit out.

[TheHowieLama]

Just now, No2 said:

He may still have won them but not in the clean manner he did. My point is the risk versus reward doesn't add up, its Watford in their own half. He's too old to be making daft decisions like he does once or twice every game. 

It is the other team in their own half. That is his job.

[TheHowieLama]

1 minute ago, Mook said:

 

He's been a lucky boy a few times this season 

Either lucky or good. As before - that is why he is here. To do that stuff.

The moaning when Keita - or God forbid Jones plays there is deafening. 

[lebron]

I love the high risk/reward style of play that he brings. I'm more than comfortable with him having a brainfart a game if he brings the ball winning and creative passing to the level he has this season. We'll score more goals than we let in from that type of play.

 

Give me that over Henderson's bland passing and lack of tackling/interceptions any day. Too much focus in football in general on avoiding mistakes rather than creating. It's why a lot of teams set up with banks of 4 and 5 and two-three quick attackers in transition. Makes for a shit spectacle most of the time.

 

I love our team! Having Thiago cut out his risks/brainfarts is faaaaar down the list of priorities for us. Keeping him and Fabinho fit for the run-in on the other hand...

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

29 minutes ago, No2 said:

I'd agree, all the great stuff is useless if you undo it with a moment of madness. He somehow avoided one certain yellow card in the first half with a reckless tackle and flew in and won a couple of others, smarter opposition would have taken advantage of those situations and had him sent off. He appears to play one reckless pass per match, against City or Bayern he needs to cut that shit out.

That was some of the lazy criticism of him when he arrived, he got too many stupid yellow cards.

 

He’s got one full yellow card in the PL this season. Four last season. No yellows in the CL this season, one last season. 
 

Who are these smart opponents and when do we play them?

[Mook]

4 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

That was some of the lazy criticism of him when he arrived, he got too many stupid yellow cards.

 

He’s got one full yellow card in the PL this season. Four last season. No yellows in the CL this season, one last season. 
 

Who are these smart opponents and when do we play them?

He's often out injured when there's a huge game on. Let's hope he can stay fit over the next eight weeks when we'll have plenty of them.

[Mook]

22 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Either lucky or good. As before - that is why he is here. To do that stuff.

The moaning when Keita - or God forbid Jones plays there is deafening. 

He's here to set up attacks for Watford by kicking the ball round their player, not being able to reach it & kicking it back into play, thus setting up a very dangerous break for them with one goal in it, 78mins into the game?

[m0e]

Maybe if we upgrade on him this summer, we can go for the quadruple next season?

[Mook]

He was very good on Saturday against a well drilled Watford side but I don't think asking him to cut out those extremely stupid moments he seems to have once or twice a game is an awful lot. Especially with two make or break games against City coming up.

[No2]

14 minutes ago, Joey8FrogsLegs said:

That was some of the lazy criticism of him when he arrived, he got too many stupid yellow cards.

 

He’s got one full yellow card in the PL this season. Four last season. No yellows in the CL this season, one last season. 
 

Who are these smart opponents and when do we play them?

Sunday. See Mooks reply above.

[lebron]

6 minutes ago, Mook said:

He was very good on Saturday against a well drilled Watford side but I don't think asking him to cut out those extremely stupid moments he seems to have once or twice a game is an awful lot. Especially with two make or break games against City coming up.

I swear some of our supporters would rather see Henderson and Milner swap 5yd passes backwards and sideways for 90 mins than Thiago absolutely bossing the midfield to avoid those so called extremely stupid moments.

[Mook]

12 minutes ago, lebron said:

I swear some of our supporters would rather see Henderson and Milner swap 5yd passes backwards and sideways for 90 mins than Thiago absolutely bossing the midfield to avoid those so called extremely stupid moments.

All I care about is winning games, I'm happy we won on Saturday but there were things there to worry me about playing away to City, including Thiago's mistake.

 

Some posters on here can't seem to accept any criticism of him at all. Yeah, I love watching him knock the ball about but no, I don't like having my heart appear in my gob everytime he wonders if he's left the cooker on & forgets he's playing professional Football.

[TheHowieLama]

33 minutes ago, Mook said:

He's here to set up attacks for Watford by kicking the ball round their player, not being able to reach it & kicking it back into play, thus setting up a very dangerous break for them with one goal in it, 78mins into the game?

Yeah man, that one. 

[lebron]

Hell, I'll criticise him as much as the next guy. Watching that game back though, and focusing on his one big mistake rather than the countless positive contributions seems a pretty dull way of watching the game.

 

The only times I get angry or is close to a heart attack during a game are when Henderson does his sideways routine instead of seeking to take on a player or play a pass between the lines (or when he lofts a floater into nowhere). That is far more detrimental to our chance of winning games on a regular basis than the occasional mistake.

 

I do agree that in Sunday's game we need to be clinical though, but that goes for every position on the pitch. Put it this way, I'm much more worried that Mo's lack of composure/form will cost us on Sunday than Thiago's sloppiness.

[TheHowieLama]

We have not lost a game he has started in the league.

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

10 minutes ago, Mook said:

All I care about is winning games, I'm happy we won on Saturday but there were things there to worry me about playing away to City, including Thiago's mistake.

 

Some posters on here can't seem to accept any criticism of him at all. Yeah, I love watching him knock the ball about but no, I don't like having my heart appear in my gob everytime he wonders if he's left the cooker on & forgets he's playing professional Football.

The worries or criticism about him not managing to stay fit is more than fair.

 

Also his habit of making big mistakes a bit too frequently is a thing to discuss. And on that I’d say he brings far more to the team overall anyway, to make up for those moments, but obviously it’s something he should work to remove from his game.

 

I think it’s the lazy clueless criticism people dont accept. He was slow and ponderous on the ball according to some, any sane person can see he isn’t and the stats will prove it. He got too many needless yellow cards, well he doesnt actually. He was lightweight, well he wins more tackles and headers than most other midfielders. He can only play well besides Fabinho, well watch the first half on Saturday again. 
 

If people managed to avoid Jelavic is better than Suarez levels of delusions I reckon it would help.

 

And yes, I agree that one of his mistakes could cost us against City, as they punish mistakes harder than most. But I think we have a far better chance of beating them with him in the team than without.