Topic: Welcome to Liverpool, Alexis Mac Allister

[StL-Dono]

Except for the times this season (not just today) where he gives the ball away in an absolutely lethal position and it comes back to bite us.  That was happening once a game through the first few months. 

He should have come off today, not Endo. 

[Yorkykopite]

He's actually a brilliant number 6. But it's been a long season for the lad. Our future captain, of that I have no doubts.

[PaleBlueDot]

He'll be fine while playing as a 2 under slot. He has intelligent pressing and covering of specific areas...just can't do the whole midfield alone.

I thought Jones would have got to the 6, or even Bajetic.

Both Curtis and Szoboszlai come on and.....Curtis plays LW 

Still playing with a 1 and 2 in front 83 mins into the game 3-1 up. Klopp's changes late into the season have been strange.

[Eeyore]

He's actually a brilliant number 6. But it's been a long season for the lad. Our future captain, of that I have no doubts.

If you were looking at midfield positions then for me Macca is far better as an 8 and under Slot may well end up in a kind of 10 role.

[Worgie]

Hope Arne was watching that and we won't see him in a 6 role next season. Great player but not suited to a 6 at all. He was a 10 in Argentina so keep pushing him back further and further to our goal makes no sense. We didnt look like scoring in those last 10 minutes with him so close to the centre backs and playing nothing little passes close to the centre circle, with Thiago out all season he is our most creative passer capable of a defense spliting pass further up the pitch.

Getting a proper DM with mobility and strong physical presence is a priority this summer, we were prepared to spend 100M on Caicedo last year so hopefully we have the funds to bring a top player in this year.

Strange subs recently, bit of a preseason friendly feel about making 4 subs at once and bringing on 3 midfielders at the same time, it cost us control in the same way Spurs go back into the game after the subs on Sunday. Don't see us doing that if we were still in the title race.

[bornandbRED]

The most dribbled past player in the league. Make of that what you will.

[Giono]

I thought Jones would have got to the 6, or even Bajetic.

That is what I thought too. I was stunned that he wasn't moved further forward or taken off.

[Jookie]

Great player and a good number 6.

But when he’s tired and being asked to cover loads of space then he’s not the player you want.

Amazed he didn’t come off when the 4 subs happened. He looked goosed before that. To put him as the 6 in the type of game it was seemed an odd choice to me. 2nd goal and 3rd goal come about from MacAllister giving the ball away & being dribbled past far too easily in front of the defence.


Needs the end of the season to recharge his batteries and come back refreshed

[Chris~]

The most dribbled past player in the league. Make of that what you will.

We play in a way that asks players to take risks to win the ball back a lot, he's played most minutes in midfield so not really a surprise.

[MonsLibpool]

We play in a way that asks players to take risks to win the ball back a lot, he's played most minutes in midfield so not really a surprise.

He still gets bypassed too easily IMO.

[A-Bomb]

He's a serviceable 6, but it'd be good for him to be able to settle into an 8 role week in week out.

[spider-neil]

I'm pretty sure Mac will be in the front 3 behind the striker rather than in the 2 in front of the defence. He's been doing a job but a DM or playing in the defensive third isn't playing to his strengths.

[Drinks Sangria]

Easy to forget in the face of last night, but he’s been our player of the season for me.

[spider-neil]

Easy to forget in the face of last night, but he’s been our player of the season for me.

VVD.

[Chris~]

He still gets bypassed too easily IMO.

Maybe but based on that stat he's better at stopping dribblers than Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum were for us.

I think as a team we've kind of just been very direct/transition heavy this season and it leaves us open a lot more to counters than it has in the past+we ask players to take bigger risks to try and create these moments for us. We've kind of just reset to what made us good and I imagine if he'd stayed we'd have worked on other aspects under Klopp in to next year

[spider-neil]

Maybe but based on that stat he's better at stopping dribblers than Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum were for us.

I think as a team we've kind of just been very direct/transition heavy this season and it leaves us open a lot more to counters than it has in the past+we ask players to take bigger risks to try and create these moments for us. We've kind of just reset to what made us good and I imagine if he'd stayed we'd have worked on other aspects under Klopp in to next year

The gaps are too large between our players. No DM is stopping that. We need better structure out of possession.

[MonsLibpool]

Maybe but based on that stat he's better at stopping dribblers than Fabinho, Henderson and Wijnaldum were for us.

I think as a team we've kind of just been very direct/transition heavy this season and it leaves us open a lot more to counters than it has in the past+we ask players to take bigger risks to try and create these moments for us. We've kind of just reset to what made us good and I imagine if he'd stayed we'd have worked on other aspects under Klopp in to next year

That's why stats have to be contextualised.  He's an easy target that opposing players are happy to square up 1v1 and his tackling is a bit weak.

When you look at equaliser, no way Endo gets like that. Endo would either barge him with his shoulder or commit a foul. Those little things nip transitions in the bud but we don't win enough challenges to play like this.

Duran probably doesn't even try that against Rice or Rodri because he knows he'll end up on the grass. It's hard to quantity that using stats.

[Fitzy.]

While he’s more suited to a more advanced midfield role, he’s obviously versatile and intelligent enough to adapt his game to play at 6. His mistake last night was obviously fatigue rather than a tactical issue.

[markiv]

Last night was clearly fatigue. It's been a long season and he's been our main midfielder and arguably our player of the season. He also hasn't played these many games in a season previously and hence the drop off in his impact over the last month or so.

For me, he has been exceptional this season. I knew he was a very good player but he exceeded my expectations. He's just so good at every aspect and is only going to get better next season. He has the potential to become a world class player. He has already been one of the top 3 midfielders in the league this season and is going to be pivotal under Slot.

Having a very good 6 next to him will really elevate his game and our overall performance. We already say that when both him and Endo were performing so well earlier in the year.

[Jookie]

He has already been one of the top 3 midfielders in the league this season

MacAllister has been our best midfielder by a mile. Probably in our best 2 or 3 players overall.

But he’s not in the Top 3 midfielders in the league this season. Rice, Rodri, Odergaard have all been better in my opinion whilst occupying similar areas of the pitch.

It’s not a knock on MacAllister but the big area of difference in quality between ourselves and City/Arsenal is in midfield. We’ve got some young players who may improve but we need to close that gap. Asking our midfielders to cover less space may help also

[kavah]

^ defo your last sentence has something in it. We were having him be an 8 & a 6. Often in the same Match.

Golden Samba season.

[spider-neil]

Hopefully, the rumour of a 60m release clause in Mac's contract is bullshit.

[Knight]

Hopefully, the rumour of a 60m release clause in Mac's contract is bullshit.

Goodness that would have been extremely incompetent of us to let that go in. Can't see it being true.

[Draex]

Our best player over the season for me, he's been a delight.

[Jookie]

Goodness that would have been extremely incompetent of us to let that go in. Can't see it being true.

It might be the reason he’ll join in the 1st place.

However, wouldn’t release clauses be quite unusual for us.

Feels like one of those stories where the agent/player is angling for an improved contract

[amir87]

Hopefully, the rumour of a 60m release clause in Mac's contract is bullshit.

Must be. We don't do release clauses as far as I'm aware.

[Samie]

Hopefully, the rumour of a 60m release clause in Mac's contract is bullshit.

You really believe evreything you hear don;t you? 

We don't do release clauses.

[KC7]

MacAllister has been our best midfielder by a mile. Probably in our best 2 or 3 players overall.

But he’s not in the Top 3 midfielders in the league this season. Rice, Rodri, Odergaard have all been better in my opinion whilst occupying similar areas of the pitch.

It’s not a knock on MacAllister but the big area of difference in quality between ourselves and City/Arsenal is in midfield. We’ve got some young players who may improve but we need to close that gap. Asking our midfielders to cover less space may help also

Totally agree on that. Having a quality/athletic 6 and not needing the 8s to stay close to protect him would have a massive impact in freeing up the 8s to do their job more effectively. Dom has definitely looked more and more knackered with the heavier workload as the season went on, and its showed in his performances, in contrast to the start when he was fresh. And putting Mac back as he can "do a job" in the 6 should only be in an emergency, not a regular occurrence like it has been.

He's not the water carrier. Not only does he not have the physical attritubes to be good one (mobility/athelticism), it also takes away from his creative game when he has been asked to perform the role. He's an elite 8, but a bang average 6. It's a specialist role, not one where you can wing it.

When he played in his natural position at the turn of the year he went onto another level, picking locks with ease.

[Draex]

Totally agree on that. Having a quality/athletic 6 and not needing the 8s to stay close to protect him would have a massive impact in freeing up the 8s to do their job more effectively. Dom has definitely looked more and more knackered with the heavier workload as the season went on, and its showed in his performances, in contrast to the start when he was fresh. And putting Mac back as he can "do a job" in the 6 should only be in an emergency, not a regular occurrence like it has been.

He's not the water carrier. Not only does he not have the physical attritubes to be good one (mobility/athelticism), it also takes away from his creative game when he has been asked to perform the role. He's an elite 8, but a bang average 6. It's a specialist role, not one where you can wing it.

When he played in his natural position at the turn of the year he went onto another level, picking locks with ease.

I don't agree he's a bang average 6, we were flying earlier in the season with Szobo, Macca and Jones as our midfield 3.

What is different to what we asked Gini and Hendo do as 8s? We've always asked our 8s to have good engines, it's been our 6 who usually covered less ground.

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2023/11/jurgen-klopp-insists-alexis-mac-allister-can-work-as-a-no-6-if-one-thing-happens/

This is Klopp on Macca playing as the 6, always it's about the team, once we got injuries and kept swapping players and some got fatigued our pressing/counter pressing suffered and then yes we exposed him as a 6.

Not that I don't think Macca is exceptional as an 8 he really is, likewise I think a younger 6 this summer will add something to the squad, but I think you're reinventing what actually happened with your comments.

[KC7]

The most dribbled past player in the league. Make of that what you will.

He is fine in the 8, his pressing was really good. The 6 requires alot more athleticism as you have more ground to cover, more runners to track as the last man in midfield, so his numbers wouldn't be good there, but given that is not his position its something he shouldn't be judged on. He did a ok job there, but it's the position that is the stand out weakness in the team. Jurgen acknowledged as much when he said the midfield has to stay close together so as to protect the 6 due to the lack of mobility there. The 6 is the last position in the team that should need protecting, it's his job to protect others. No question Jurgen would have addressed the 6 in the window this summer.

Without any context 41 goals conceded isn't that bad (although almost double the 22 conceded in 2019), but when you consider how much we dominate possession in games that means teams need very few chances to score, and teams score with such few chances as the chances we give up are easy (certainly a lot easier than the chances we get). Even yesterday vs 10 man Wolves, a game we were looking to keep a first clean sheet in 11, they had a glorious chance with a one vs one against Alisson. The midfield as usual were scampering back behind the opposing midfield runners before the chance presented itself. It just isn't anywhere near close to a good enough defence barrier in midfield. It's been dogshit for two seasons. The exits from Europe has seen two of the biggest hidings we have received at Anfield in Europe, Real Madrid 5-2 in 2022-23, and Atalanta 3-0 this season. Bajcetic played in the former, Endo in the latter. To me Bajcetic doesn't look like a 6 at all. Looks more a deep lying passer who needs the defensive athlete next to him.

[Eeyore]

You really believe evreything you hear don;t you? 

We don't do release clauses.

Suarez had two.

[Samie]

Suarez had two.

Man is going back a decade or more on a singular deal..   

[Eeyore]

Man is going back a decade or more on a singular deal..   

Macca had a clause at Brighton that allowed us to sign him on the cheap though. For me that makes it more likely he would have one here. Hopefully he hasn't but I wouldn't rule it out.

[KC7]

I don't agree he's a bang average 6, we were flying earlier in the season with Szobo, Macca and Jones as our midfield 3.

What is different to what we asked Gini and Hendo do as 8s? We've always asked our 8s to have good engines, it's been our 6 who usually covered less ground.

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2023/11/jurgen-klopp-insists-alexis-mac-allister-can-work-as-a-no-6-if-one-thing-happens/

This is Klopp on Macca playing as the 6, always it's about the team, once we got injuries and kept swapping players and some got fatigued our pressing/counter pressing suffered and then yes we exposed him as a 6.

Not that I don't think Macca is exceptional as an 8 he really is, likewise I think a younger 6 this summer will add something to the squad, but I think you're reinventing what actually happened with your comments.

So when Jurgen was asked about the issue of Mac in the 6, and him responding that the 8s have to stay close to him so as not to isolate him? That question wouldn't have been asked had there not been an issue, and Klopp wouldn't have responded at all had there not been either.

You are making up that Mac in the 6 has not been an issue this season. It's been an issue as that's not his position.

Playing three natural eights in midfield, while probably our strongest midfield as we lack a quality 6 that matches their level, is disjointed. And Gini and Hendo as the 8s excelled as they had that 6 that matched (exceeded) their level.

[farawayred]

Macca had a clause at Brighton that allowed us to sign him on the cheap though. For me that makes it more likely he would have one here. Hopefully he hasn't but I wouldn't rule it out.

Yeah, but we moved away form the release clause model. It wasn't sudden, but we did eliminate those in the span of a few years. Considering the typical contract length is 5 years, has any of our current players had a release clause since 2018/19?

[Eeyore]

Yeah, but we moved away form the release clause model. It wasn't sudden, but we did eliminate those in the span of a few years. Considering the typical contract length is 5 years, has any of our current players had a release clause since 2018/19?

It is hard to know because they are secret and only really get revealed if a player wants to leave. I think you are right though it isn't something we normally do. The thing is though that we were short of money last summer so we might have decided that we couldn't afford to walk away from signing Macca for £35m if he insisted on a release clause.

Hopefully, it isn't true. Even if it is true it is not unusual for us to give relatively low wages initially and then renegotiate after the player demonstrates his ability. It might be a case of upping his wages to remove the release clause if there is one.

[farawayred]

It is hard to know because they are secret and only really get revealed if a player wants to leave. I think you are right though it isn't something we normally do. The thing is though that we were short of money last summer so we might have decided that we couldn't afford to walk away from signing Macca for £35m if he insisted on a release clause.

Hopefully, it isn't true. Even if it is true it is not unusual for us to give relatively low wages initially and then renegotiate after the player demonstrates his ability. It might be a case of upping his wages to remove the release clause if there is one.

Short of money? We were going to splash £115m on Caicedo...

Good thing we dodged that bullet, and the Lavia one too.

I see where you're coming from, re: release clauses, but I don't think there is anything to suggest that we changed our ways. The recruitment approach did change with Klopp and now is going back to "LFC normalcy", but I don't think the contract negotiations have changed since FSG too over. But you're right, these are secret clauses and we won't know until an agent reveals one.

[Eeyore]

Short of money? We were going to splash £115m on Caicedo...

Good thing we dodged that bullet, and the Lavia one too.

I see where you're coming from, re: release clauses, but I don't think there is anything to suggest that we changed our ways. The recruitment approach did change with Klopp and now is going back to "LFC normalcy", but I don't think the contract negotiations have changed since FSG too over. But you're right, these are secret clauses and we won't know until an agent reveals one.

We started the window by pulling out of a deal for Bellingham. We then got £52m for Henderson and Fabinho and ended up raising money by selling a chunk of the Club to Dynasty.

With it coming from a Buenos Aires radio station it might be his agent pushing for a new deal.

[farawayred]

We started the window by pulling out of a deal for Bellingham. We then got £52m for Henderson and Fabinho and ended up raising money by selling a chunk of the Club to Dynasty.

With it coming from a Buenos Aires radio station it might be his agent pushing for a new deal.

I think Macca should be rewarded with a new deal no matter what. He's a gem.

About the Bellingham stuff, I never bought into the official line. We would have known that he chose Real way before the window started, maybe in the beginning of the year, but no later than April for sure. We knew what our plans for the summer would have been by the opening of the transfer window. Announcing the pulling out of Bellingham then allowed the Club to pursue other deals quietly, and I believe Macca was the beneficiary of that.

[kop306]

how many people on rawk voted for macca player of the season ?