Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revelled in the long-awaited return of star midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Thiago came off the bench in his first appearance since October as Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Newcastle United in the Premier League on Wednesday.
The former Bayern Munich man, who sustained a knee injury in a 2-2 draw with Everton on October 17, was a 73rd-minute substitute and managed to make 23 passes with 91.3 per cent accuracy midweek.
We signed Thiago actually because we thought he was a good player, so you can imagine we would like to have him in the team. That s clear, Klopp told reporters during his post-match news conference.
What the other boys did in the time he was not available is absolutely incredible. James Milner, for example, tonight played a super game in midfield. Really. So, yes, it s good [he is back], he is a super player. I think of the 20 minutes, 12 round about were brilliant and then he felt the intensity, but that s normal. He trained exactly twice with the team. There is still some physical work to do, still some rhythm to get.
[Xherdan] Shaqiri is back and that s, by the way, the best news tonight – the boys are back and, as far as I know in the moment, nobody got injured tonight, which is a very important thing. That means we can probably go with the same squad to Southampton.
Back on track. Time to move on. Up the reds!
— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6)
Back-to-back draws against West Brom and Newcastle has seen Liverpool s lead atop the table reduced to three points, with rivals and second-placed Manchester United boasting a game in hand.
Liverpool failed to score for the first time in 22 Premier League matches, while the defending champions were unable to win their final league game of a calendar year for the first time in seven years.
The Reds only shot on target in the second half came in the 88th minute via Roberto Firmino s header. Liverpool have now managed just one attempt on target after half-time in each of their last two Premier League games.
It ends level at St James Park.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Look, not scoring is a concern if you don t create, Klopp said. That s how it is. If you create, it s just momentum, it s for now. But if you keep creating then you will score, that s it. I know we will score again, that s not our problem in the moment.
We needed to show a reaction from the second half against West Brom because in that game we lost the plot a little bit in the second half, it looked for me like we were 1-0 down not 1-0 up. Tonight it was a very good reaction on that, without getting the result. But we all know: you win this game 1-0 and everybody is over the moon. And we should have won it at least 1-0, but we didn t. That s what we have to accept.
But I can work with this performance, that s important. I can work with the things I saw tonight. We can build on that, we don t have to now change massively in the next three or four days and say, OK everything is going wrong, we have to try to compete another way . That s why I’m OK, that s it.
