Due to Dominik Szoboszlai’s quick rise at Liverpool, fellow newcomer Alexis Mac Allister might now have to compete with Curtis Jones for playing time.
In the midst of much anticipation, Alexis Mac Allister came in Liverpool in June. Due to a departure clause in the player’s Brighton contract, the deal appeared to be a lock for the summer’s top signing for a price of around $45 million (£35 million/€40 million).
After all, this was a guy who had helped Brighton qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history and was a finalist for the Premier League’s Young guy of the Season award. Even better, on the international stage, he had started all but one of Argentina’s games on route to World Cup victory, contributing an assist in the championship game.
Liverpool won’t be concerned even though Mac Allister, 24, hasn’t been able to live up to the anticipation up to this time because he hasn’t been playing in his best position. Jürgen Klopp is likely to advance him into his favoured number eight position if the experiment of utilising him as a number six continues to produce mixed results. Defensive midfield is definitely not the only option.
Mac Allister, a $77 million (£60 million/€70 million) transfer from RB Leipzig, is one of two new recruits who have started each Premier League game for Liverpool thus far this season. The other is Dominik Szoboszlai. Szoboszlai has been nothing short of a revelation, taking up the club’s Player of the Month award in August and likely placing well in the voting for September as well. During Klopp’s eight-year reign, few players have gotten off to quicker beginnings.
As was mentioned in the most recent Liverpool.com podcast, Mac Allister might inadvertently suffer from parallels to Szoboszlai. The Hungarian is an exception to the general rule that players take some time to get used to a new team and system, especially when they’re playing a role they’re not accustomed with.
As the defensive shield in midfield, Mac Allister’s errors are also amplified, in contrast to Szoboszlai, whose game-changing errors are less significant and hence receive less attention. On the other hand, an all-action number eight finds it far simpler to make good news than a quiet midfield anchor.
Mac Allister and Curtis Jones will be in competition for a spot in the starting eight on the left side if Klopp chooses to use Wataru End, a specialist, to fill the role. With a modest but significant contribution both in and out of possession, Jones has arguably become one of the first names on the teamsheet and would be challenging to remove.
Jones also has the benefit of having worked with Klopp longer, so he is more familiar with the subtleties of the position while Mac Allister is still learning. You could argue that, for the time being, it’s his best, if not only, way into the starting lineup, despite the fact that there are valid questions about the $45 million man’s readiness for a holding role.
Listen to the most recent Liverpool.com podcast episode with David Comerford and editor Matt Addison for an in-depth exploration of Mac Allister’s early years at Anfield. In addition to the video at the top of this post and on YouTube, you can listen to our talk on all the usual platforms, including Spotify.