Yahoo Sports GdS: ‘Upside down in a month’ – Thiaw’s resurgence continues after Bernabeu test
Malick Thiaw did not have the easiest of seasons in 2023-24 nor had the current one started the best way, but the Real Madrid game could be a launching point.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write this morning – and something we spoke about in more depth during a recent feature – a new coach generally has the best chance of results with a consistent centre-back pairing.
There are areas of the field where rotations are more frequent, sometimes even forced, but in front of the goalkeeper the greatest possible stability is needed. However, Paulo Fonseca has cycled through Fikayo Tomori, Strahinja Pavlovic, Matteo Gabbia and Thiaw.
Speaking of Thiaw, the German missed two and a half months due to a myotendinous injury last season. Once he returned, he was no longer the same and it meant that 2023-24 did not go down as a positive chapter in his career.
The 2024-25 season did not begin much better: he had a horror performance against Torino, in the first game, then suffered a sprained ankle that made him miss three games – Lazio, Venezia, Liverpool – while Gabbia impressed.
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In short, Malick seemed destined to remain the lowest rung of the hierarchy, but Fonseca must be given credit for not leaving anyone behind, or at least trying. Against Udinese the former Schalke man came back in, perhaps partly because Tomori was being punished by the coach after the Fiorentina penalty debacle.
From then on Thiaw has always been deployed as a starter (aside from the Club Brugge game) and the consecration came right on the most important stage: the Bernabeu, against Real Madrid. He stopped their €1.3bn squad scoring an open play goal and netted the opener from a corner.
In the summer it seemed that Thiaw could say goodbye, with Newcastle United linked, but now the impression is that it could be a whole different story, if he can keep this up of course.
