Jürgen Klopp's £35m Swiss Army Knife
Alexis Mac Allister scored yet another decisive goal on Thursday night, and he's doing everything for Liverpool right now.
This one is for Alexis Mac Allister, a truly wonderful footballer. 55 days ago, the South American had accumulated a total of 1,868 minutes for Liverpool in all competitions, scoring one goal and registering two assists.
He’s since played 829 minutes of football, scoring five times while also setting up five goals for his teammates. That, in a nutshell, is why his name is being underlined right now, and rightly so. Nothing will do more for your reputation in this sport than popping up with a few scoring contributions every now and then.
Remember Divock Origi, Luis García and Maxi Rodríguez? They’re all viewed fondly on Merseyside despite their inconsistencies, and that’s because they frequently delivered meaningful moments for supporters to savour.
Mac Allister has seemingly transformed into Liverpool’s clutch player over the past few weeks — exhibiting real quality in the final third — but make no mistake, this guy can do it all.
His goal against Sheffield United was a belter, and it gave his team the lead with just 14 minutes of the midweek bout remaining. His last-minute assist with his weaker foot against Nottingham Forest last month wasn’t bad, either. Neither was his screamer from distance against Fulham.
Mac Allister is very much at home in the final third, and that isn’t always the case with midfielders. It’s in his nature to do his fair share of the work on the offensive side of the game.
The Premier League is renowned for cherishing the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Yaya Touré, Patrick Vieira and Paul Scholes because of their ability to score goals from the middle of the park. It all feels very Barclays, for some reason.
If you think about your typical La Liga midfielder, though, you imagine a pass master. If you do the same for a Serie A midfielder, you imagine a tactician who is shrewd, slow and strategic.
Midfielders who offer goals and assists aren’t actually that common. Roy Keane would likely argue otherwise given his age-old perspective on how the game is played, but they really don’t come around very often.
Mac Allister isn’t just special because of his returns in the final third. He’s worth far more than the £35m that Liverpool paid for him because he seems to merge all of the popular midfielder traits into one valuable package.
There are some players who suffer from a nosebleed whenever they exit the middle third, and there are plenty out there who offer something in attack, but nothing in deeper areas. Our man does the lot.
He’d look perfectly sound if he was asked to do his best impression of Xavi in Barcelona. And he’d look equally capable in Turin as a cunning midfielder who isn’t that athletic, but knows he doesn’t have to be due to the quickness of his mind.
The World Cup winner is pretty complete. He’s operated as somewhat of a Swiss Army knife for Jürgen Klopp this term, solving a million little problems on the pitch and consequently improving Liverpool’s chances of winning games in a multitude of ways.
He’s your key to the door, your vehicle into the final third, your safety net, your conductor, and based on recent form, your number nine.
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