Graeme Souness told Super Sunday on Sky Sports that Thiago Alcantara, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the now loaned out Takumi Minamino don’t have the ‘intensity’ to play for Liverpool.
The Anfield legend was trying to make it clear that Liverpool’s problems are ‘more than’ Virgil van Dijk being injured, as he pointed towards the midfield.
Both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, previous aggressors in the middle of the park for the Reds, have had to drop back into centre-back.
Souness stated that they have been missed in the engine room, and those who have stepped in, Oxlade-Chamberlain recently and Thiago more frequently, haven’t been able to bring the same ingredients to the table.
“It’s more than that [missing Van Dijk],” said Souness. “My personal opinion is that they have four midfield players, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Milner and Fabinho.
“All workaholics, whoever they played. All very aggressive. I don’t think they ever got the credit going back. I think that’s where the problem lies.
“When they were functioning at their best, they dominated games, they bullied teams, they made Liverpool always on the front foot and they made the defender’s life easy as well.
“Then you introduce Minamino. You introduce Thiago. Oxlade-Chamberlain. All very good players in their own right, but Thiago especially. But he’s not that player. It’s the intensity, I am talking about. He’s not that type of player that constantly put the opposition under pressure and make them make mistakes.”
There was a lot of excitement on Merseyside when Liverpool secured the signature of Bayern Munich’s European Cup winner, Thiago.
At the start, injury and COVID resulted in him missing several months of action, but since he has been able to play regularly, he hasn’t been able to showcase his qualities to the best of his ability.
Some have questioned whether he slows the game down for the champions and how he needs a Henderson-like figure beside him to do the business.
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