Thiago Alcantara has heaped immense praise on Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson, describing the Reds captain as “one of the best midfield players I’ve played with in my life”.
The duo have formed a blossoming relationship in the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s midfield since Thiago transferred to Anfield from Bayern Munich last summer. Despite some initial teething problems in the Premier League, Thiago has established himself as one of the division’s most talented and effective midfield operators, with his tempo-setting exploits key to Liverpool’s successes last term.
Klopp’s men were fighting on four fronts towards the backend of the campaign having already claimed a domestic cup double, securing the League Cup and FA Cup, but they just came up short in the Premier League title race after a dramatic final day and lost out to Real Madrid in last month’s Champions League final in Paris.
Some were questioning Thiago’s ability to flourish in the physically-robust demands of top-flight English football, not least Liverpool great Dietmar Hamann, who recently described the Spaniard as “one of the most overrated players in European football”, but there can be no question that he was a fundamental cog in Klopp’s well-oiled midfield across 2021/22.
Henderson, likewise, produced a string of authoritative showings in the centre of the pitch, so much so that Thiago has lavished the highest of praises on him, bracketing the England midfielder among the very best that the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich man has played with, a list that includes the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Toni Kroos, among many others.
“He brings to us this intensity that the team needs at some points of the game,” he stated on Liverpool’s official YouTube channel.
“He’s intense the whole game. He’s one of the best midfield players I’ve played with in my life.”