Alexis Mac Allister has been back to his very best in Liverpool's last two games after a poor start to the season
Alexis Mac Allister was named player of the match against Real Madrid
Alexis Mac Allister was named player of the match against Real Madrid
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There's a reason why all of Alexis Mac Allister's managers desperately want to pick him. From Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton to Jurgen Klopp, the man who signed him for Liverpool, to Argentina's World Cup winner Lionel Scaloni to Arne Slot, Mac Allister's bosses have always bent over backwards to pick the midfielder in their teams wherever they can.
Klopp, of course, was so desperate to pick Mac Allister in what proved to be his final season at Anfield that he would often station him as the deepest lying of his three midfielders, a position that never quite came naturally to a player who has so much to give in an attacking sense too.
He gave that again on Tuesday night, scoring the opening goal in an Anfield fixture against Real Madrid for the second season running.
This time the strike would prove to be the only one of the game on a night that the Reds will hope proves to be the definitive turning point of their season, both collectively and individually.
“It’s true that maybe it wasn’t the beginning [of the season] that I wanted, it was a little bit hard for me," Mac Allister, who missed the end of last season through injury, said after the game.
"But now I’m getting in the rhythm I just wanted to play some games in a row so I’m happy that I had the possibility to play against Villa and again today. So, I’m really happy with it.”
And when Mac Allister is fit and healthy, he tends to play. Ask De Zerbi, Scaloni, Klopp, and most importantly Slot.
The past week has seen the Argentinean come to the fore in the victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid, with his roar to the crowd after winning a foul from a furious Boubacar Kamara in the former fixture perhaps a sign that his spark has returned after his tentative beginning to the campaign.
There was a clearer sign on Tuesday with his goal, as Mac Allister threw himself at a header in the same manner he did with important goals away at Everton and Tottenham last season.
Aside from being a threat in the opposition box he also took up impressive positions and was always on hand to receive the ball from midfield partner Ryan Gravenberch, often moving it on to Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz as he dictated the play in a manner that he did so often last season.
There had appeared to be a moment when Mac Allister's nailed on position in the starting XI was under threat due to his own fitness and lack of form, as well as a resurgence in both categories from Curtis Jones. But not for the first time Jones has been affected by an ill-timed injury, the one he got at Brentford, and with the door open for Mac Allister he's strolled right through it in the same manner he strolled past Real Madrid midfielders for the second time in 12 months.
Slot was still picking him even when he wasn't in this form, but his return to the type of player his managers will recognise could well have the power to keep Liverpool on the course they now seemed to have settled on.
The one that is often plotted by their gifted No.10.
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