Proof That Thiago Alcantara’s Signature ‘Thiago Turn’ Is Impossible To Defend Against

Thiago Alcantara must have eyes in the back of head judging by how the simple, but stylishly brilliantly effective, 'Thiago turn' is in beating the press.

A video compilation of Liverpool's Spanish midfield maestro in action shows just how often his trademark move has worked in leagues and matches worldwide.

Thiago picks the ball up with his back to goal, waits until the oncoming opponent is behind him, reads which way they're leaning - then spins the other way with the ball on the outside of his foot, beating them from a standing start and heading off into space. So smooth.

The 30-year-old magician has been performing his trick for Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, but nobody has found an effective way of shutting it down.

"As soon as the oncoming man slows down and is flat footed he changes direction. Simple but so effective," marvelled one football fan on Twitter.

"That's the samba skills. You either have it or you don't. Can be forgiven for thinking he's Brazilian," commented another.

Thiago has Brazilian parents, of course, and his father, Mazinho, was a 1994 World Cup winner. But utility player Mazinho never really pulled off tricks like this, if we're honest.

Not that everything in Thaigo's career has gone as smoothly as this stylish turn. The Spain international initially struggled to adapt to the Premier League and to fit into the set-up at Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool when he arrived in England over the summer.

He was bought to inject some of the style and guile seen in this footage into Liverpool's largely industrious midfield. However he initially wasn't always on his teammates' wavelength.

But that has subtly changed as the season has gone on as he has become more effective and Thiago played the full 90 minutes in Liverpool's 3-0 win at Burnley on Wednesday that put them back into the Premier League's top four.

It seems that Thiago has helped Liverpool 'turn' a corner, just is his style.

Featured image credit: PA Images/Twitter

Topics: Liverpool, Premier League, Thiago Alcantara

Alex Reid

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

@otheralexreid