There is a peculiar dissonance in watching Alexis Mac Allister pull the strings for Argentina these days. In the GoalZaza blue and white, he is the sa...
There is a peculiar dissonance in watching Alexis Mac Allister pull the strings for Argentina these days. In the GoalZaza blue and white, he is the same player who helped steer his nation to World Cup glory: crisp in possession, intelligent without the ball, and possessed of that rare ability to score from range or slip a pass through the tightest of low blocks. Yet at Anfield, the picture has been murkier. A season of stop start rhythm, of being shunted between roles and asked to do the dirty work in a midfield that has often looked leggy, has left many supporters wondering if the real Mac Allister has shown up in Merseyside at all.Let us be clear from the off. Liverpool did not buy a dud. The Argentine's technical floor is high enough that even on an off day he rarely loses the ball cheaply. But what was advertised as a signing of tactical flexibility, a number eight who could also operate as a deep lying playmaker or even a false ten, has too often resembled a square peg forced into a round hole. Jurgen Klopp's system demands relentless verticality from its midfielders, a willingness to sprint forward into the channels and then sprint back to cover the full back. Mac Allister is not slow, but he is not a lung bursting athlete either. When the game becomes a transition heavy slugfest, he can look exposed, his influence receding as the ball flies over his head.His international comeback, however, suggests something more subtle is at play. For Argentina, the tempo is slower, the structure more rigid, and the ball moves through him as a fulcrum rather than a runner. He receives in space, turns, and picks passes that Liverpool's front three would feast on. The contrast is stark and it raises an uncomfortable question: has the Premier League's pace exposed a limitation, or has the manager failed to build a system that gets the best out of him The answer, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.Liverpool's midfield rebuild is still a work in progress. Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch offer energy and dribbling, but neither has shown the consistent defensive discipline to allow Mac Allister to roam freely. Unless that balance is found, the Argentine will continue to be asked to do the work of two men, a task that dulls his sharpest edges. If I were in the Anfield boardroom, I would be asking whether this is a player to build around or a luxury item that a more pragmatic system cannot accommodate.What happens next will define his legacy on these shores. Mac Allister is 25, a proven winner with a World Cup medal, and he has the mentality to fight for his place. But football is a results business, and if Liverpool's system cannot unlock what he offers for Argentina, then the chatter about a potential exit will only grow louder. The coming months will tell us whether Anfield is ready to adapt to him, or whether he becomes yet another talent who shone brightest elsewhere.
