Among the many positives for Liverpool during a stirring second-half revival on Sunday, it was in danger of slipping under the radar.
But the return of Thiago Alcantara could yet play a pivotal role as Jurgen Klopp’s side attempt to salvage some reward from a tortuous campaign.
Thiago was forced to watch from the sidelines as Liverpool slumped out of the Champions League in disappointing fashion against Real Madrid last month before seeing their hopes of qualification for the competition next season effectively ended by a poor run of Premier League form.
The Spaniard had missed 10 games with a hip injury suffered having assumed the mantle as the Reds’ senior midfielder in the New Year with both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho dropped after respective dismal periods of form.
Having started 10 successive games following the World Cup – his longest such run since arriving at Anfield in September 2020 – Thiago had ultimately gone to the well one time too many.
Now, though, he returns to a Liverpool engine room that, while in a constant state of flux this season, has sorely missed the calming influence and ability to dictate play that have been Thiago’s characteristics throughout a career in which he has shone for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and the Spain national team.
Not that the midfielder isn’t envious of the attributes of some of his more energetic team-mates – including one whose game perhaps couldn’t be any further removed from the elegant Spaniard.
“When you are into the game, when you are living the game, you just react,” says Thiago. “You cannot think too much, but running is not my thing. My thing is about making the team play slow or fast when we have to.
“For the best players in the world – and I don’t have this – it is about trying to score 40 goals a season. I say to Darwin (Nunez), I never have had the feeling in my life to shoot the ball 30 metres in front of me and say I will win this race to get it. I feel jealous sometimes of that, for sure. But this is life, we always want what we don’t have.”
While hardly a stellar season for either player or team, Liverpool nevertheless have a greater win percentage with Thiago, winning half of the 22 games in which he has started compared to just 38% in the 21 he hasn’t, Sunday one of only three times the Spaniard has emerged from the bench.
And, speaking to Walk On magazine, Thiago explained the use of one of his trademark moves – the no-look pass.
“It is a way to trick the other guys (opponents) so I can get the ball to my team-mates in a better position,” he says. “You have to look at the ball to see whether it is close enough to make a proper pass. You also have to take a look before and if you see a body moving (in your peripheral vision) you can say ‘okay, I will do this pass’ because you’ve seen him (team-mate), you know exactly where he is. Then, for the no-look pass, you have to avoid putting your body or eyes where you want to put the ball.
“The speed (of the pass) and knowing how the player will behave when he receives the ball allows you to decide if you give it to him. I prefer to give the ball to players on the run than to a player’s feet because it will be better on the run.”
Having turned 32 on Tuesday, Thiago is approaching the veteran stage of his glittering career. And while the days are ticking down to Liverpool’s long-awaited and necessary engine room revamp this summer, the Spaniard – who still has more than a year to run on his contract – could soon be primed for his next task of helping usher through the Reds’ next midfield generation.
Jurgen Klopp has already said what he wants to happen if Liverpool don’t qualify for Champions League
The bleak reality setting in for Liverpool this term is that are likely to fail to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in a full season under Jurgen Klopp.
Their 0-0 draw with fellow strugglers Chelsea was a third league game on the bounce without victory. While there were encouraging signs in the 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal, the form of teams above Liverpool in the table means that hopes of a top four finish are almost extinguished.
After destroying Manchester United 7-0 there rightfully seemed to be optimism about achieving a Champions League spot, something which was seen as a minimum target at the start of the season after coming so close to winning the title.
Now though even Klopp himself seems to be resigned to the fact that it is a step too far. After the Chelsea draw he said: “If we can’t make top four, European football is still at stake, fifth, sixth, seventh.”
So it begs the question, If Liverpool don’t get Champions League – do they want to be in the second or third tier European tournaments?
Views are sure to differ among the Reds fanbase. While there may be new grounds and locations to visit, it would arguably be a distraction from an otherwise clear domestic push. But then there is the financial side of things, with the Europa and Conference Leagues worth significantly less in revenue than the Champions League – yet still important for staying competitive.
It’ll be a sign of just how far this Liverpool team has fallen if next season the Europa League theme tune returns to Anfield after a six-year absence.
There is also the possibility of a new anthem echoing around the ground with the Europa Conference League on offer for finishing 7th in the table, however it certainly won’t be viewed as a reward by many.
At least it wasn’t by Klopp a couple of seasons ago – as in Pep Lijnders’ book, Intensity, it is written of the boss: “He told the boys his biggest worry last year [2020/21] was having to play in the UEFA Conference League… not because of that tournament but because it would’ve meant we were not playing Champions League and having nights like this [against AC Milan].”
It is still possible that they pull it off again but with how inconsistent Liverpool have been since the opening game of the season it seems unlikely.
Liverpool have nine games left this season to try and pull it off. But they are now 12 points behind Manchester United and Newcastle United, who occupy fourth and third, separated only by goal difference.
The massive negative that comes with being in Europe when it is not the Champions League is the fact that sides with those commitments must play Thursday and Sunday – so there is always a high chance of a potential hangover from the midweek fixture.
However some of the sides, especially in the group stages, on paper will be lesser lghits. It is possible therefore, that Liverpool line-ups could be rotated just like they were back in 2015/16 when the Reds were last in the Europa League.
That Europa League campaign also produced some of the great nights under Klopp with the most notable being the remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund with a last-gasp header from Dejan Lovren sending Anfield into ecstasy with emotion.
As well as that there was the win over arch-rivals Manchester United, as well as second-leg comeback against Villarreal to send Liverpool to the final proving just how electrifying Anfield can be.
So even if it isn’t in the Champions League the European nights under the lights can special and generate memories that are cherished for a lifetime by fans.
This season Mikel Arteta went some way to showing how to balance a Europa League run with a title race, potentially disproving the theory that the competition would be more of a distraction than an opportunity.
Whether Arteta prioritised the league over the Europa League can be debated as they went out to Sporting Lisbon on penalties in a brilliant round of 16 tie – but the two can clearly be juggled.
Ultimately Klopp is right, Liverpool have to keeping pushing for those last European spots. Not least because the money from a potential run in Europe next season will be handy to follow what looks like a significant summer outlay on the horizon.
The Reds currently find themselves in eighth, still looking up at the European places. It is now over to the boss and his squad to fight with everything they have with just nine games of the campaign left.