I didn't say it was his 'fault', just that we got one good season out of four, which is indisputable really. But in general, Thiago never had legs. He needed to be next to someone to do his running (and preferably his defending) for him even in Germany.
That's why he looked so bad next to Gini in his first season and generally looked best when next to Fabinho and one of Henderson or Milner, or in the more measured pace of European ties. When those players weren't able to cover for his lack of running and tendency to settle around the centre circle (ie. in his first and third season), our midfield were sitting ducks. Because he couldn't do the work of one person at Premier League pace, let alone two or three. It's also why I don't think he would have got back into the team this year regardless.
People will argue that point but just look at last season: Thiago played in pretty much all our worst performances and barely any of our best. For all the stick they've taken, our midfield seemed to function fine with Henderson and Fabinho in the Man United, Leeds and Bournemouth thumpings, the away win at high-flying Newcastle or the 2-2 with top-of-the-table Arsenal - all games Thiago wasn't playing. These are facts.
But we aren't predicting, we're looking back. One team won a league title and a Champions League and one team didn't. They don't give out trophies for xG!
But saying "one good season" without context is unfair (also don't agree he only had one good season).
As I suggested before, I think he was sold a pup. If any player could make a claim to the Advertising Standards Authority that what he got was not what was advertised its him. When he joined in summer '20 we had been competently run (primarily so anyway). The first window while a Liverpool player, team somehow top of the league despite the CB situation, players openly talking about reinforcements coming in, and the manager is wheeled out in early January to tell a stunned press room that signing a CB was unlikely to effectively end our season while top.
If you are Thiago, one of the best midfielders on the planet, you have got to be disillusioned as to what set up you have joined. We know for a fact Robbo was disillusioned as he had openly spoken in late December about help coming in. The results which followed this stance and the impact on the players speak for themselves:
4 January 202117 Southampton 1–0 Liverpool Southampton
17 January 202118 Liverpool 0–0 Manchester United Liverpool
21 January 202119 Liverpool 0–1 Burnley Liverpool
28 January 202120 Tottenham Hotspur 1–3 Liverpool Tottenham, London
31 January 202121 West Ham United 1–3 Liverpool Stratford, London
3 February 202122 Liverpool 0–1 Brighton & Hove Albion Liverpool
7 February 202123 Liverpool 1–4 Manchester City Liverpool
13 February 202124 Leicester City 3–1 Liverpool Leicester
20 February 202125 Liverpool 0–2 Everton Liverpool
28 February 202126 Sheffield United 0–2 Liverpool Sheffield
4 March 202127 Liverpool 0–1 Chelsea Liverpool
7 March 202128 Liverpool 0–1 Fulham Liverpool
15 March 202129 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–1 Liverpool Wolverhampton
3 April 202130 Arsenal 0–3 Liverpool Holloway, London
10 April 202131 Liverpool 2–1 Aston Villa Liverpool
19 April 202132 Leeds United 1–1 Liverpool Leeds
24 April 202133 Liverpool 1–1 Newcastle United Liverpool
8 May 202135 Liverpool 2–0 Southampton Liverpool
13 May 202134 Manchester United 2–4 Liverpool Manchester
16 May 202136 West Bromwich Albion 1–2 Liverpool West Bromwich
19 May 202137 Burnley 0–3 Liverpool Burnley
23 May 202138 Liverpool 2–0 Crystal Palace
There is no other club who would have done what we did. Its unthinkable. Had we had no senior goalkeepers we would have been mandated by the authorities to act. We had one injury prone senior CB left, one who hadn't played in the last games of the December so we were already using midfielders in the defence, and we have the manager come out and tell everyone that signing a defender was unlikely with half a season left.
It was self sabotage, not suggesting it was deliberate as I'm not that cynical, but self sabotage nonetheless. I cannot think of anything comparable in sport. All the other incidents were shady (Bruce Seldon seemingly taking a dive against Mike Tyson comes to mind), but nothing where results were affected by wilful incompetence.
So that's Thiago's first season ruined. And he was really good in that run in helping us to scrape 3rd. The next two seasons, when he played he was great. The Porto goal a stand out moment. We asked him to carry the midfield when he played in that 3rd season and he inevitably broke down.
We can't just judge Thiago (or any player) in isolation as the set up he joined was badly run. He had no proper CB to play infront of in his first season, and in his third he had no midfielders partners who could run. His second season, the only one in which we resembled the team he joined, we were still a bit thin in midfield with Gini having left, so we went to Paris with the midfield goosed.
He's a player with wonderful technique, very injury prone being made of glass, but we did him no favours with the set up in his time with the club.