Barnes was far from impressed with Thiago’s style of play
Despite leaving most Liverpool supporters enamoured with his electric performance against Manchester United, Thiago failed to win over John Barnes.
Speaking after Liverpool’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday, the previous Liverpool player was critical of Thiago’s ball movement. He went as far as top pin the blame for Liverpool’s lack of goals on Thiago as he cited his slow passing a reason for the club’s decline.
Barnes Talks About Thiago’s Impact On The Game
“Thiago, who was running the game and was the best player in the first half, I don’t think that necessarily helped the front three,” Barnes said.
“With Henderson and Fabinho in midfield, they just get the ball forward and are much more direct for the three strong-running strikers to get on the ball and go on attack, Thiago slows the game down.
“When he slowed the game down in tight areas, that is not Mane’s game, that is not Salah’s game. So we’re getting used to a new system, but at the moment it’s not working.
“But in my opinion, along with Manchester City, we’re still favourites.”
Thiago Concerned With Dearth Of Goals
Meanwhile, Thiago himself spoke about how a lack of goals recently has left Liverpool downtrodden
“When we didn’t realise and didn’t make the goals, we’re just getting our self-confidence a bit down and that’s why the game changed,” Thiago said speaking to liverpoolfc.com.
“At the end, it’s football and in some minutes of the game you are in high emotions and sometimes you are low – it’s part of the game.
Without winning, we are never satisfied. We have to do much better to be on top of the league
“We made a superb first half, then the second half was 50-50.
“We are happy in some way with our performance – how we did in some moments of the game – but we have to do much better to be on top of the league.”
“Look at the guys we have in front – not just the big three, let’s say that. We have Div, we have Shaq, we have Taki” he added.
“We have many players that can score, people in the midfield that can score as well, people from the defence can score.
“It’s a matter of creating the chances that we are creating to be effective.”
