A look at what type of player Liverpool are getting in Alexis Mac Allister and where he might fit in
It’s been quite the six months for Alexis Mac Allister.
Having starred alongside Lionel Messi to help Argentina win their first World Cup since 1986 in Qatar back in December, he then inspired Brighton & Hove Albion to their highest-ever Premier League finish of sixth last month.
After signing off from the Amex Stadium by securing Europa League football for the first time in the Seagulls’ history, Mac Allister then became Liverpool’s first signing of the summer when he officially completed his move to Anfield on Thursday
The 24-year-old is viewed as the first block of a significant midfield rebuild for Jurgen Klopp’s team in the summer transfer window but just what type of midfielder is Mac Allister?
Well, I’ve played almost in every position,” he told LFCTV upon his official unveiling. “I think the managers who work with me know I can do it everywhere that they need me
As a player, I’m a player who tries to play as simple as possible, to help my team-mates defensively or attacking, and that’s the most important thing. I’m a team player and I will try to bring that to this club.”
Something of a swiss-army knife of a midfielder, Mac Allister’s best trait is perhaps the fact he does most things to a very high standard in the engine room, without truly excelling at one specific skill.
Capable of operating in the No.10 role, where the onus is on creativity and supplying the front line with key passes and assists, Mac Allister has also been tasked with performing in slightly more withdrawn midfield areas during his time at Brighton.
Liverpool have not played with a quintessential ‘No.10’ since the days of Philippe Coutinho, who departed in January of 2018, so reworking a more creative attacking midfielder into the system would be a tactical surprise from Klopp, but it is a certainly a possibility given Mac Allister’s addition and Cody Gakpo’s presenc
What might be more likely, though, is the sight of Mac Allister working as one of the two ‘No.8s’ in Klopp’s midfield system just further forward of Fabinho, who remains the club’s only specialist senior defensive midfielder if we are not counting 18-year-old fledgling Stefan Bajcetic.
Thiago Alcantara, when fit, may be designated the left-hand side of that midfield area, so it could be argued that Mac Allister will be operating primarily on the right side, which is the more demanding of the two midfield positions in the Liverpool system given the need to overlap Mohamed Salah in wide areas while also covering for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s natural and tactical inclination to drift further forward from right-back.
Neither Jordan Henderson nor Harvey Elliott managed to perform this job consistently at times last term as the Reds struggled until the final two months of the campaign, although there is plenty of scope for Klopp to think-up a tactical tweak or two over the pre-season weeks. Either way, it will be fascinating to see where Mac Allister will be asked to play.
“Alexis can play anywhere on the pitch,” his former manager Roberto De Zerbi told The Athletic in December. “I don’t know if he’s better as a [deep] playmaker or 20 metres further forward. I like him a lot in the other [deeper] position.
During Mac Allister’s 6,818 minutes in the Premier League with Brighton, he spent 37% of it as a deep-lying playmaker and 32% further forward as a central attacking midfielder. The adjustment of Alexander-Arnold’s position in the last two months of the campaign, however, suggests that Mac Allister may yet be tasked with the No.10 role.
His tactical flexibility will be key to Klopp going forward as the manager goes about remodeling his team after dropping to their lowest finish of fifth in any of his seven full seasons last term.
“He’s a very good player, a very calming influence on the pitch,” Arsenal legend Paul Merson said this week. “He keeps the ball and ticks it along, and reminds me a bit of an Ilkay Gundogan without the goals.”
Mac Allister’s 10 Brighton goals last season was actually two more than Gunodgan registered for champions Manchester City, although six of them were from the penalty spot. Nonetheless, the comparison with the Germany international is a valid one.
Gundogan, whose double in the FA Cup final last week helped City beat local rivals Manchester United, appears as number two in the list of ‘similar players’ to Mac Allister according to scouting tool FBREF
