Stephen Warnock criticises Liverpool star Thiago

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Stephen Warnock has told Match of the Day that he would be tearing into Thiago Alcantara following Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat on Sunday because of his action in the decisive goal.

The Reds are out of the competition after losing 3-2 at Old Trafford. It was a fantastic tie which Manchester United ultimately edged after the visitors had initially taken the lead and found an equaliser to make the score 2-2.

The winning goal came when Bruno Fernandes found the bottom corner with a free-kick right on the edge of the box. The ball passed over the heads of Thiago and Paul Pogba who were standing away from the wall.

And following the game, Warnock insisted that Thiago has got to do significantly better in that situation.

“But if you do that, what Thiago’s done there and ducked, I’m coming in at full-time and I’m tearing into you,” he told Match of the Day. “I am, because you’ve got to be big and strong there. You’re in the wall, you’re in a position, go and head it, let it hit you in the face.”

It would be unfair to put a lot of blame on Thiago – who earns around £192,000-a-week, according to Spotrac. He perhaps should have done better on that occasion. But there were others who made much greater mistakes over the course of the evening.

And you could certainly understand if the fans had serious questions about the decision to award the free-kick in the first place.

Perhaps Fabinho made a slight error by giving the referee the option to penalise him. But there looked to be very little contact made with Edinson Cavani, and the official seemed to be taken in by the way the forward went to ground.