Thiago Alcantara, former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool player, spoke to Peter Crouch's podcast to talk about football. The former England striker asked him to name the best player he had shared a dressing room with at each of the teams he played for, and he surprised with his answers.
At Bayern, he chose Philipp Lahm, at Liverpool Roberto Firmino and at Barcelona he did not choose Lionel Messi, as might have been expected. Instead, he preferred to highlight the role of Andres Iniesta in that glorious Barca side. Thiago Alcantara, currently a member of Hansi Flick's staff, explained.
"In Barcelona you had from the goalkeeper to the striker. But the understanding of the game, that mix of tactics and talent, was Andres Iniesta. We had Messi, Xavi, Busquets... many geniuses. Iniesta played in my position and I identified with him," explained the Spanish-Brazilian.
Amazed by Lahm
Thiago also explained the choice of Lahm as the best at Bayern, where he shared a dressing room with other top-class players. "At Bayern Munich we had Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, but I'm going to go back to my position. To see a player like Philipp Lahm... he was very consistent as a full-back. When he played in the centre, I said to myself: 'This guy always plays in the centre, he wasn't a full-back!' I was very surprised," he recalled.
Firmino ahead of Salah
Thiago Alcantara's choice regarding Liverpool was also surprising as he did not opt for Mohamed Salah, the great star of recent times in the red team. "Bobby Firmino... I loved that player. He put his talent at the service of the team and was very good with the ball."