Reach out and kiss the saint. That Thiago fit into Jurgen Klopp's scheme is no surprise. That after 45 minutes he looks like a veteran wearing the elastic 'net', yes. And it is that, the Spanish midfielder made Liverpool's engine room his own as soon as he stepped onto the pitch after the break (replaced Jordan Henderson). With 0-0 on the scoreboard, the 29-year-old international brought freshness to the Merseyside team and completed 75 passes in just half a game, best mark in Premier League history since in the 2003-04 season this statistic began to be counted.
75 – Half-time substitute Thiago completed more passes (75) than any Chelsea player managed in the entire match. Since full passing data is available for the Premier League (2003-04), his 75 successful passes are the most by a player who played a maximum of 45 minutes. Control. pic.twitter.com/UvHfrw1ggN
– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2020
Thiago's record was once published by 'Opta' in Twitter, did not fall on deaf ears for the Liverpool fans, who began to boast of the signing of their new star. “What a player!”, “Scares what remains to come” or “is already the best passer in the league” were some of the comments that accompanied the publication. In fact, the former Bayern completed more passes in 45 minutes than any Chelsea player in 90. A record debut.
Klopp has always confessed himself as a fan of Thiago's game, since his time as coach of Borussia Dortmund, and has been the great supporter of his signing. The arrival of '6', also, adds a different role to the team's midfield, with players much more physical and less fine than the Spanish-Brazilian (Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum …).
However, they should not be surprising, such as the one he gave away this Sunday in the victory against Chelsea, since his average number of passes with Bayern in the last four years it was 82 games, with a 91 percent accuracy. Numbers, yes, exceeded in his first contact with his new team.
A single mole
Even if the performance had a mole, the penalty committed in the 72nd minute that could change the fate of the match. However, there was no room for negativity and Allison stopped the maximum penalty to Jorginho (the first to fail as a 'blue' player) to give Thiago a placid premiere in which only flattery had room. Jurgen Klopp summed up his match as follows: “He was top. Had a great timing, I must say. He is still not used to our way of thinking, Bayern played differently from us. Defensively it was a bit difficult, but with the ball … he wants to move it. “And boy did he move it.
Good news for a Liverpool that, after a hesitant start to the season, has hit the table at Stamford Bridge thanks to Sané's double, Kepa's mistake and the great performance of the new head of the engine room 'red'.