Gary Neville has compared Thiago Alcantara’s performance in Liverpool’s 3-0 away victory against Leeds United with those of Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick.
The Spanish midfielder was in fine form at Elland Road, dictating the play from the middle of the park with his pin-point, composed passing.
Injuries and Jurgen Klopp’s side spectacular collapse last season resulted in the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona midfielder’s best form to take longer than expected to emerge.
However, he completed his first full 90 minutes of the new season for the Reds; impressing Neville who lauded his classy display on the Gary Neville Podcast.
“It was all about composure, it reminded me of Scholes at Anfield,” said Neville.
“The game was so frantic and all of the sudden there’s a small guy in the middle of the pitch who just puts his foot on it and there’s calm and peace.
“Carrick did the same for us sometimes.”
Scholes and Carrick won a combined 16 Premier League titles between them before retiring in 2013 and 2018 respectively, with the latter going on to play under Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
Both players are considered two of the best midfielders in the Premier League era, with Scholes in particular rated highly amongst the best players of his generation.
It certainly was high praise for the Spaniard who is not a stranger to worldwide recognition.
The midfield maestro was named in the FIFA Team of the Year in 2020 having been one of the lead conductors in Bayern Munich’s treble winning campaign.
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Neville heaped further praise on the 30-year-old midfielder, insisting he was a beacon of calm in an otherwise chaotic and intense match.
“It was a really good performance, before the game you think, ‘do you need to fight fire with fire against Leeds?’,” said Neville.
“Match their energy, so when you see Elliott, Thiago and Fabinho in the midfield, who aren’t the most athletic and mobile, even though they can run, you think maybe Leeds have got a chance to run off them.
“What Thiago did for Liverpool there is what he was brought into do.
“When everything was frantic and running around, he just put his foot on the ball and played the pass that opens the game up.”
Elland Road was a cacophony of noise, but Liverpool held firm to secure a very comfortable victory for themselves.
Mohamed Salah tapped home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cross in the first half to give the Reds an advantage.
In the second half, Fabinho bundled in a scrappy, but invaluable second goal to double Liverpool’s advantage.
Unfortunately, their positive performance and mood was soured by a horrific injury to Harvey Elliott.
The 18-year-old was enjoying another wonderful performance in his third consecutive start for the club.
However, a challenge from behind by Leeds’ Pascal Struijk resulted in Elliott horribly dislocating his ankle.
He was stretchered off the pitch to a standing ovation from both sets of supporters, and the club said in a statement he will undergo surgery in the coming days.
Liverpool needed a moment to compose themselves, but when they did Sadio Mane secured a third for the club, swivelling on Thiago’s pass before firing his tenth shot of the day past Illan Meslier.
