When you see Thiago Alcantara’s fantastic goals from long range, the only surprise is that there aren’t more of them. It feels like a player of his quality should be delivering them on a weekly basis.
The most recent was delivered in Liverpool’s 4-1 friendly win over AC Milan, and in one sense it was similar to one he scored last season. He’d also already come close against the Italian side with a similar opportunity 16 minutes before he scored, firing narrowly wide after being teed up by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Later, with Milan unable to properly clear the danger following a corner, the ball reached Thiago in the ‘D’ on the edge of the penalty area. With a touch to steady himself, the midfielder lashed a fine drive into the bottom corner.
READ MORE: Four World Cup stars Liverpool are tracking ahead of January transfer window
While you wouldn’t expect him to be bursting into the six-yard box to finish intricate passing moves, it is telling that Alcantara’s three official goals for the Reds have all been hit from distance. The only one of his debut campaign occurred in a win against Southampton, sealing a 2-0 win.
Six months later he struck twice in four days, with the Saints again falling victim in defeat at Anfield for the second of them. More memorable was Thiago’s effort against Porto. Hit low and true from 31-yards out, people still argue over whether the ball hit the turf on its route to the back of the net. Ultimately, who cares? It flew in.
And it’s a style of goal which Liverpool need to see more frequently, be that from Alcantara or any of his colleagues. Per WhoScored, 24.6 per cent of the Reds’ shots in the Premier League have been taken from outside the box this season, the lowest proportion in the division. In principal, their low figure is undoubtedly a positive, as it shows they are focussed on creating higher quality chances, a fact borne out by them having more goal attempts from inside the penalty area than any other team.
But it’s important not to go too far in this direction and become predictable. Liverpool only scored five league goals fewer than Manchester City last season in total but lost 15-8 for those struck from outside the box. The Reds’ record in 2022/23 demonstrates that this deficit didn’t prevent them from winning the league last season, but a few more long-range missiles might have made all the difference.
The key is to strike a balance, as Thiago’s record ably proves. In the Premier League, the 31-year-old has scored one goal from 39 outside-the-box shots. Yet from the ‘D’ he has scored once from eight attempts, with his Milan effort unofficially adding to the tally.
Liverpool’s league goals from distance in this campaign have been a mixture of inessential and priceless. For starters, half of their total occurred in their 9-0 win over Bournemouth. As the goals Harvey Elliott and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored from outside the box were the second and third respectively, Liverpool were already on their way to winning, and surely would've done so regardless.
There have been a couple of valuable goals hit from beyond the 18-yard line though. Luis Diaz scored an equaliser against Crystal Palace from there before Mohamed Salah settled the match with City from a similar location. But the latter was hardly a typical long-range strike, coming as it did after the Reds’ top scorer had been put clean through thanks to a punt forward from Alisson Becker.
The Reds face a lot of deep-lying defences, 'parked buses' and low blocks. Being able to break them with a well-struck effort from distance could prove invaluable. With what he demonstrated in the win over Milan, Thiago may have shone a light on how Liverpool can prosper over the remainder of 2022/23.
READ NEXT:
- FSG face Boston headache that could cost millions ahead of any major Liverpool transfers
- Four World Cup stars Liverpool are tracking ahead of January transfer window
- Jurgen Klopp refused to let Liverpool players leave Christmas party before 1am after 'losing their minds'
- Sofyan Amrabat asking price named as Liverpool 'head start' in transfer race emerges
- What Ibrahima Konate said after World Cup final shows Liverpool can benefit
