'Thiago will not only improve our game - he'll improve other players'
Pepijn Lijnders has detailed the great number of benefits Thiago Alcantara's arrival will provide for Liverpool.
The Reds' midfield options have been bolstered following the signing of the two-time Champions League winner from FC Bayern Munich last week.
Jürgen Klopp has also seen his choices in the final third of the pitch increased after Portugal international Diogo Jota completed a switch from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Assistant manager Lijnders discussed the recently-arrived duo during his press conference to preview the Carabao Cup clash with Lincoln City. Read on below to see what he had to say...
On how Jota will get game time due to the current front three and demand to win matches...
You saw our schedule. He will win matches, for sure. He's a player on the level of the front three technically. He's a pressing monster, so hopefully the adaptation will [be] quite quick – with good players it's quite quick. That's a phase he has to learn our game, our way we want to do the things because it's different at Wolves. When we see him play in the national team for Portugal, we see that they play 4-3-3, there's a lot of similarities between these two teams. He will play – as many others [will]. He's bought to create solutions for us.
On it being the 'perfect' time for Thiago to come into this team...
This team deserves a player like him because a good team deserves good players and a good team deserves players who will add something. He will add something to our team. With signings, you have the direct improvements – you put the player into the game and things happen, say if you put a new goalkeeper and he will make a save, if you put in a striker and he will score. But the indirect developments are the most important of signings. Because Thiago is so calm and plays so many creative passes, all the others start playing like this. This is the power of the example, the power of the models. He will not only improve our game, he also will improve the other players.
On skills the coaching staff are looking for within the midfield...
We always searched to do the right things for each game. That means because we have so many different characteristics in our midfield, we can really change when necessary and put what we think before the game is the right midfield to approach the game. It's not only Thiago, of course. Example: Curtis Jones, who comes and really takes an important spot in our midfield, who gives us risks between the lines, who gives us young blood, who is a proper squad player at this moment in time.
