Jurgen Klopp never doubted Thiago Alcantara’s suitability to play for Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp never had any doubts over Thiago Alcantara’s suitability for his team despite criticism last season over how he impacted their style.

The Spain international has been in brilliant form in the last couple of weeks, with his impressive performance in the first half of last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City followed by a masterclass against Manchester United in midweek.

It was around this time last year the 29-year-old came into his own as he helped orchestrate their drive to Champions League qualification, something which looked unlikely in the March and has again taken centre stage as they pursue an unprecedented quadruple.

His influence on the team is evident from recent statistics: in his last 29 starts the team have won 25, drawn 3 and the game they lost was the Champions League last 16 second leg at home to Inter Milan.

He is now looking like the world-class midfielder Liverpool expected they were getting when they paid Bayern Munich an initial £20million in September 2020, making a mockery of the criticism he received last season regarding the suitability for Liverpool’s style with the suggestion he slowed down play too much.

“People were questioning if he suits our football? Thank God these people don’t make decisions,” Klopp said.

“If a player is calming a game down in moments due to a lot of reasons – one of them is just to have a look, or whatever – it is of course nothing we thought (was wrong).

“It is more important Thiago wanted to join us and he knew how we played. He is a real football person and thinks a lot about football. He knew how we played and he knew he would fit in and we knew it as well.”

Part of the issue last season was Thiago struggled on