Thiago Alcantara has admitted Liverpool can’t think about qualifying for next season’s Champions League after suggesting they are suffering ill-effects from last year’s unprecedented quadruple push.
The Reds won both the League Cup and the FA Cup, but missed out on the Premier League title by a solitary point on the last day of the season before falling to a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have struggled this season off the back of last year’s astonishing campaign, and find themselves 10 points off the top four down in eighth position after drawing 0-0 with Chelsea on Saturday as their Premier League campaign reached its midway point.
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And while Thiago thinks Liverpool’s dressing room is strong enough to turn their season around, he admits they can only approach the rest of the campaign one game at a time.
“We are in a great position for Champions League and FA Cup,” he said after Saturday’s draw. “We are not in the position we want in the Premier League, but we are there.
“We are now in our reality where we have to go game by game. Try to add those three points will help us to be as high as possible. Our aim is the next game. It’s not about to be in the top four or to be in Europa League. We just think about next game.
“We have to be together as a team. It’s not just in the bad moments. In the good moments as well.
“For sure (last season’s finish affected us). It’s not just about physical stuff. It’s also something psychological. We were so close to winning everything. We just touched it but it went away.
“Last season I had one of the greatest seasons I’ve had in my life. This season is not one of the best, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a season, it’s a challenge. I think we have great quality and great guys to sort it out and we will do that.
“We look forward, we’re looking forward to the next game against Brighton and that’s all.”
While Liverpool’s season has not been one to remember, one of the positives has been the performances of some of the club’s younger players.
Stefan Bajcetic has made the biggest impact from the academy and was handed his first Premier League start against Chelsea.
And Thiago was full of praise for Liverpool’s youngsters as he spoke about how he has taken Bajcetic, whose father, Srdan Bajcetic played alongside his own, Mazinho, at Celta Vigo during the nineties, under his wing during his breakthrough season at Anfield.
“We have great talents coming through,” he said. “Not just Stefan, all the boys who are training with us and play with us. They have this maturity that is very rare for people of 18, 19 or 20 years old. They’re doing great, not just in training but also in games.
“I think we are responsible for, not just our actions but how the team must behave. Myself and all the players with our experience can help as much as we can on the pitch. For sure we can be focussed on our duty but first of all is the team.”
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