Liverpool boss Arne Slot is hopeful Alexis Mac Allister can now kick on after an injury-hampered six months
Liverpool and Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool and Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister(Image: Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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There are myriad reasons behind Liverpool thus far failing to hit the heights of last season in the defence of their championship. One, though, is surely more frustrating than most.
Alexis Mac Allister swiftly became regarded as one of the bargains of the summer in 2023 after the Reds triggered his £35million release clause, the Argentina midfielder going on to become an integral player during Jurgen Klopp's final campaign in charge as the Anfield side embarked on an unlikely title challenge and secured the League Cup.
Mac Allister was switched from a sole defensive midfielder to a more forward position during the second half of that season to impressive effect.
But when Arne Slot replaced Klopp in the hotseat, his switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1, with Mac Allister again dropping deeper to play on the left of a duo alongside a repurposed Ryan Gravenberch, proved a masterstroke.
Liverpool won 17 of the first 20 games in which the duo started together - the only defeat coming at home to Nottingham Forest - to provide the momentum that carried the Reds towards a record-equalling 20th championship.
However, the moment the title was secured with a 5-1 thumping at home to Tottenham Hotspur in April - during which a Mac Allister thunderbolt was created by Gravenberch's tenacity on the edge of the box - drew a line in the sand.
The Argentine failed to start any of the final four games of the campaign as he began to nurse an injury complaint that saw him miss his country's post-season internationals.
And when Mac Allister's expected return at the start of pre-season failed to materialise, valuable preparation time was lost with the 26-year-old subsequently among a number of Liverpool squad members playing catch-up regards fitness and sharpness.
It wasn't until the win over Arsenal in late August that Gravenberch and Mac Allister were reunited in midfield with only another four such outings forthcoming at present.
Even then, Mac Allister failed to get beyond the 65th minute in all bar the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea last time out. For context, while the Argentine being substituted in the closing stages was nothing new last term, of the 15 times he was replaced only six saw him leave before the same point in a match.
Liverpool resume after a fortnight off with a home clash against bitter North West rivals Manchester United on Sunday and Slot will be mindful Mac Allister has a patchy record in games immediately after an international break.
In his first season, he was substituted during half-time at Wolves, while last term he was replaced on the hour in the defeat to Forest and failed to start against Chelsea and Southampton.
But both the player and Liverpool will have good reason to welcome the recent round of national team duty, with Mac Allister given minutes in Argentina's win over Venezuela and then playing the entirety of the 6-0 thumping of Puerto Rico in which he scored twice - the first full match he has completed in almost six months.
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And Slot is confident Mac Allister will return to his previous high levels despite admitting his recovery has taken longer than expected.
"One thing is clear is that he missed out on a lot, unfortunately," said the Liverpool head coach on Friday. "He went out immediately after we won the league and we were expecting him to be back for the start of pre-season, which he wasn't.
"That led to the fact he wasn’t able to play three times in a row, so he went in-out, in-out 60 minutes, 45 minutes, and that is never an ideal scenario for a player.
"But like all the others he is a player who has experienced so much already in his career. He will be back at the level he wants and the level I want from him."
With Gravenberch fit, Dominik Szoboszlai in form and more now expected of £116m attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, Mac Allister's place is by no means a certainty this weekend.
But Liverpool know a fully fit and firing Mac Allister is among the first names on the teamsheet. The Reds have missed their World Cup winner.