Liverpool: £200k-a-week star playing 'weirdly' at Anfield | OneFootball

Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara has been putting in some "weird performances", journalist Dean Jones told GIVEMESPORT.

Thiago, who earns £200,000 per week is one of a number of underperforming Reds players, with Jurgen Klopp's side currently languishing down in 10th position.

From just missing out on a historic quadruple last season, to scratching around in mid-table at the halfway point of this campaign, Liverpool's dropoff has been drastic.

Having already been knocked out of both domestic cup competitions and with a Champions League round-of-16 tie against Real Madrid to come, the immediate future looks bleak for Klopp's side.

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Firmly out of the title race, Liverpool's objective for the remainder of the campaign has to be to secure qualification for next season's Champions League.

Of course, the Reds have two avenues to achieve this: one is to finish inside the Premier League's top four, while the other is to win the Champions League itself.

At the moment neither look likely, with Klopp himself having shown signs of the pressure getting to him recently.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund chief refused to answer a question from The Athletic's James Pearce in Saturday's post-match press conference, hinting negative media coverage was the reason why (via This is Anfield).

It came after Liverpool suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the campaign away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving the Reds an astonishing 11 points off the top four after 20 matches.

And there are now suggestions Liverpool's poor performances could be because key players haven't been pulling their weight on the pitch.

What has Dean Jones said about Thiago Alcantara's performances?

Speaking in an interview with GMS, journalist Jones highlighted a number of high-profile names within the Liverpool squad that he considered to be performing below par, with Thiago named as one of those players.

On the Liverpool squad, Jones said: "Mohamed Salah is off the boil, Thiago is putting in some weird performances, Joel Matip was all over the place the other day.

"Even Virgil Van Dijk at times this season has just been nowhere near where he’s been in the past.”

What next for Thiago and Liverpool?

According to WhoScored, Thiago is averaging just below a 7.00 rating so far this season, indicating there have been some positive signs for the Spaniard, but also there is significant room for improvement.

During the most recent match Jones references, Thiago completed just 88% of his 66 attempted passes - a decrease for the usually accurate midfield maestro (FotMob).

Midfield has been a problem area for Liverpool so far this season and it's no coincidence Thiago's drop-off has come at the same time as the Reds' downfall.

Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, or even winning the competition for a seventh time, could depend on whether or not Thiago's form can return to the heights he's demonstrated so often in his career.