Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

News

HomeNewsLiverpoolEnglish Premier League

Tim Cahill says player Liverpool let go last year is the smartest footballer he’s seen

Charles Jones

Sat 15 February 2025 18:15, UK

Tim Cahill has been building his perfect footballer made up of a number of attributes.

𓄧The Australian was asked to build the greatest footballer of all-time using attributes from a number of stars.

🌌Cahill namechecked some incredible footballers when building his ideal player, picking Kevin De Bruyne for his right foot and Lionel Messi for his left foot.

Despite being an Everton legend, Tim Cahill picked a former Liverpool꧃ star as the player with the highest football IQ he’s ever seen.

♑Indeed, when asked to pick a footballing brain for his perfect player, Cahill chose a former Liverpool player. In fact, he picked a player who was at Liverpool just last season.

• READ MORE: ꦛLiverpool’s most expensive signings of all time, Mohamed Salah nowhere to be seen

Tim Cahill picks Thiago Alcantara as the smartest player he’s seen

🏅Cahill picked Thiago Alcantara as the smartest player he’s seen when building his perfect footballer.

ඣThe Australian may be an Everton legend, but even he conceded that the former Liverpool midfielder was a genius on the pitch.

𓆉It’s not hard to understand why Cahill holds Thiago in this regard.

🤡The Spaniard was just a level above anyone else when he was in the midfield, he would often think two or three steps ahead of his opponents, and he could tie any player up in knots.

♓Thiago has been named as the most skilful player in the world in the past too.

ꦏCahill certainly knows what he’s talking about when discussing this type of thing as he built an utterly unbelievable ‘perfect player’.

Thiago Alcantara record vs Everton

ജAs Cahill says, Thiago was a genius of a footballer, and his former team, Everton, know that only too well.

♏Indeed, while Thiago spent a lot of his time at Liverpool injured and on the treatment table, he did manage to play four games against Everton.

⛎Thiago won two, drew one and lost one of his matches against Everton.

📖Thiago put in a statement performance against Everton back in 2022 in a 2-0 win where he absolutely ran the show.

꧃A 98% pass success rate when making 121 passes is utterly ridiculous, and you can only produce those sorts of numbers if you are a true genius on the pitch.

ﷺCahill may not be too far wrong when naming Thiago as the smartest footballer of all-time.