Alexis Mac Allister was the last Liverpool player to leave the pitch at the Amex Stadium. Old friends were queuing up to embrace him.
Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi made a beeline for the 2022 World Cup winner after the final whistle on Sunday. Draping an arm around the midfielder’s shoulder, he encouraged the home fans to show their appreciation for the man who had said a tearful goodbye to them at the end of last season.
Still loved and respected at the south coast club, Mac Allister has quickly endeared himself to players, staff and supporters alike since completing a £35million ($43m) move to Liverpool in June.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has described the Argentina international as a joy to work with and “super-smart tactically”. Mac Allister was the priority signing at the start of the midfield rebuild at Anfield this summer and he’s been ever-present in the Premier League this season.
There’s been plenty to admire — not least that exquisite assist for Darwin Nunez in the home victory over West Ham two weeks ago. Yet the feeling persists that Mac Allister isn’t being used in a role that best suits his attributes. He isn’t a specialist No 6 and at times that fact is glaring.
During his four seasons with Brighton, he either operated in a more advanced position or had Moises Caicedo for company when he played deeper. At Liverpool, he’s been tasked with being the defensive shield on his own, and that is a very different challenge.
“Alexis’ best position? He’s too young (for me) to know in this moment,” said Klopp before Sunday’s 2-2 draw. “If we defend well as a team he can play as the No 6, definitely.”
Buying a holding midfielder became a necessity following the departure of Fabinho to Saudi Arabia in July. The failed pursuits of Caicedo and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia led to the surprise purchase of Wataru Endo from German club Stuttgart.
However, the 30-year-old Japan international has only started one Premier League game since as the process of adapting to what Klopp wants from him continues. When Endo was taken off at half-time against Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday, many viewed that as a sign he was being primed to face Brighton, but instead he remained on the bench throughout yesterday.
With Harvey Elliott preferred to fill the void created by Curtis Jones’ suspension before being replaced by Ryan Gravenberch for the second half, Mac Allister continued as the No 6 — and it was a testing afternoon for him. It works fine playing him there when Liverpool are dominant and their opponents sit back, less so in games when Klopp’s side are put under real pressure.
Virgil van Dijk didn’t do him any favours with the pass, but Mac Allister had to be more alert to the danger around him when Simon Adingra picked his pocket and fired past Alisson to open the scoring.
At times, Mac Allister was bypassed far too easily and gave away some free kicks in dangerous areas, as you can see below.
The 24-year-old, who had more touches in the game (93) than anyone on either side, contested 12 duels and won half of them. He completed 65 of his 71 passes (92 per cent), gaining possession 10 times and losing it eight times.
A real mixed bag.
It was Mac Allister who intercepted Lewis Dunk’s pass after Elliott’s pressing had forced the error and launched the slick counter which led to Mohamed Salah sweeping home the equaliser.
Rather than come out firing after the injustice of what happened at Tottenham last weekend, Liverpool were strangely flat on the eighth anniversary of Klopp’s appointment as manager. They were fortunate not to fall further behind before a remarkable turnaround late in the first half when Salah struck twice. The Egyptian now has six goals and four assists in 10 appearances this season.
Liverpool should have had a numerical advantage to go with their penalty after Pascal Gross cynically pulled down Dominik Szoboszlai in the box. There was no attempt to challenge for the ball. The officials ruled it wasn’t the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity because the Hungary skipper wasn’t moving towards Brighton’s goal at the time and hadn’t gained possession of the ball.
After all the fallout from the VAR controversy a week earlier, Klopp wasn’t in the mood to make a fuss about that decision. “I’m over it. I’m too old for these kind of things. It won’t change it,” he said.
The Liverpool manager acknowledged that his team hadn’t done enough to deserve maximum points. Given their lack of control, there was always a fear a glaring miss by Gravenberch would prove to be costly — and so it proved as Dunk converted Solly March’s free kick.
The absent Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo were sorely missed as Klopp didn’t have the luxury of being able to freshen up his front line when limbs were getting weary.
Premier League table
Position| Club | Played| Won| Drawn| Lost | GD| Points
—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
1
Tottenham
8
6
2
0
10
20
2
Arsenal
8
6
2
0
10
20
3
Man City
8
6
0
2
11
18
4
Liverpool
8
5
2
1
9
17
5
Aston Villa
8
5
1
2
7
16
6
Brighton
8
5
1
2
5
16
7
West Ham
8
4
2
2
3
14
8
Newcastle
8
4
1
3
11
13
Brighton’s status as Liverpool’s bogey team continues — that’s only one win in the last eight meetings with them in all competitions. “I think it is the right result in the end,” added Klopp. “We kept the game open and we gave away too many set pieces. It was intense for both teams.”
Liverpool are still in decent shape going into October’s international break — just three points off the top with a new-look line-up, having played five of their eight league matches away and having faced plenty of adversity.
However, the No 6 role is an area of concern that needs addressing.
Mac Allister is operating in a position he wasn’t bought to fill, and it shows.
He would certainly benefit from being relieved of those duties and allowed to influence games further upfield.
(Photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
