Thiago Alcantara’s commitment has been questioned due to his ‘strange injuries’ at Liverpool.
The Spanish midifelder missed six games earlier this season due to a hamstring injury and missed the 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest with an ear infection.
The Reds have been struggling this season with central midfield, Thiago’s position, a particular area of concern for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
No other member of the squad can replicate his technical and creative ability in midfield and they’ve suffered without him.
And Glen Johnson (bizarrely) claims Thiago shouldn’t get injured because he just “strolls about”, questioning his commitment to the side.
“It’s one of those, Thiago is great when he plays and you wish he could play every week,” he told Midnite (via Express). “But he should be fit for every game every week, because he’s that player that strolls about and does not sprint, so he shouldn’t have as many muscle injuries, Thiago doesn’t get hurt in a game is what I mean.
“Thiago does get some strange injuries and misses games for strange reasons, but he can’t be replaced, he just needs to get out there and play.”
Jurgen Klopp explained that his absence was due to an ear infection he had picked up Friday night with the issue so bad he had to be taken to hospital for the pain.
“Thiago got this last night, a bad ear infection. There was no chance for him to do anything. We drove him home,” the German explained. “The decision was taken at 5:15am. He woke up in the middle of the night and had the problem.
“I woke up an hour later, but the decision was taken the moment he woke up and the doctor went there and they went to the hospital. It didn’t work out, though. Yes, he was in that much pain he had to go to the hospital.”
Klopp claimed the late enforced change contributed to the defeat at the City Ground.
“We played against a deep defending side,” the German boss added. “We didn’t train in this formation one second because Jones was not in the plans. He was close and we can see he is now fit which is great, but he didn’t play this position before.
“Then Thiago gets an infection over night and is out and you have to make a decision. Can Henderson start again? I was concerned from the medical department not too long so we changed like this. It was clear we had to get used to it. We didn’t hit the target and the goalie made a sensational save but that’s it now and we cannot change it.”
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