Speaking to Off The Ball, Mark Lawrenson has actually been criticising Thiago Alcantara’s performance against Villarreal.
Lawrenson may be famous for being one of the most cynical pundits around, but if there’s one player who can have him waxing-lyrical, it’s Thiago.
Indeed, the Liverpool legend has made his love for the Spaniard very clear in recent weeks. He’s labelled him his ‘favourite’ player, and he’s even said that he worships at the feet of the Spanish magician.
However, even as a Thiago disciple, Lawrenson couldn’t get away from how poor his performance was against Villarreal, and he gave him a scathing review.
What’s been said?
Lawrenson was critical of Thiago.
“I heard you speaking about Thiago and everything, and that’s probably the worst he’s played in ages. Even he couldn’t pass to a red shirt. Across two games, if you split them into four halves, Liverpool have been fantastic in three of them and average in one of them, but against a team like Villarreal, that was enough to get through,” Lawrenson said.
Off-day
Thiago, quite simply, wasn’t very good in midweek, and for his biggest fan to be criticising him in this way just goes to show how off the pace the midfielder was.
Thiago couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm against Villarreal, and in that first-half he could barely find his teammates with his passing.
Thiago has played a lot of football in recent weeks, so perhaps this is just a case of fatigue setting in, but Liverpool will have to hope that he’s back to his best soon. After all, the Reds have two cup finals coming up and a crucial game against Tottenham in the league this weekend.
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