This season review for Thiago could have been written back in August: a phenomenal player with a phenomenally poor injury record for Liverpool. One of the most gifted players of his generation from both a tactical and technical perspective, Thiago has nonetheless been hampered by a series of injuries, both well before and during his Anfield stay. This past season, though, when he was available, Thiago was up there as one of the top outfield performers. However, due to his injury record, questions have been raised about his future role in the new setup. Should he be allowed to leave this summer if he feels up to a new challenge, with at least two midfielders certain to arrive? Or should he be kept as a squad option given his quality-to-brittleness ratio?
Thiago started 22 games in all competitions this season, coming on as a substitute 6 times and remaining unused on 0 occasions. He scored 0 goals and had 1 assist. His overall season rating was 5.25.
From his return off the bench in the battering at Napoli, Thiago immediately looked far better than everyone else – mostly because he is, of course. He sat in beside Fabinho in a double-pivot and looked like a grizzled ball-winner instead of one of Europe’s most gifted, creative passers. Through a run of a dozen or so league games either side of the World Cup, Thiago was essentially the only performer in the Reds’ soft centre as Jurgen Klopp chopped and changed formations and combinations.
From February 4 through to the end of the Premier League season, Thiago played 96 minutes of a possible 1,620, making four appearances off the bench. He was unavailable, injured, for precisely half the top-flight matches, plus missing one more seemingly due to rotations and rest. His injuries are neither new nor a secret, but started way back when he was still at Barcelona.
The question now is what to do next? Keep him and pay out around £5-6 million in wages for whatever he is able to offer the team for another year, or seek to recoup roughly that sum and allow him to depart? Thiago might not want to leave, and nobody should be disappointed if that’s the case – he’s still a player who could start and dominate against the very best teams. It’s just that we can’t guarantee he’ll be available for those fixtures. The safe money is on another year of exactly the same.
Thiago’s best moment this season was perhaps his performance in the 1-0 home win over Man City. His worst moment was being destroyed in midfield against Wolves and then picking up what was effectively a season-ending injury into the bargain. His role next season is likely to be that of a squad player, which remains a ridiculous thing to say given his incredible quality.