Alexis McAllister spoke at length about his No.6 role, how things have changed for Liverpool and what to expect from Arsenal this afternoon. Liverpool’s midfield changes don’t happen overnight. Chelsea’s collapse on Wednesday was a perfect example of how things have changed for Manchester United’s engine room, and one player in particular, since the Premier League’s opening weekend.
McAllister was drafted in at No.6 at Stamford Bridge in August, with Liverpool opting to see Jordan Henderson and Fabinho leave for James Milner in the summer, with Moises Caicedo and Romeo Rabia joining their rivals. Mc Allister looked to impress as the Reds drew 1-1. Worse, he was controversially sent off on his home debut against Bournemouth the following week and the red card was later overturned. He received a half-time suspension in the first half of an international against Wolves in September.
If Jurgen Klopp believes this, the fans are starting to worry. This was intended as an interim measure before Brighton’s £35m signing. But with Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo needing time to settle and teenager Stefan Vaicetic released, Klopp has no choice but to continue to use Mac Allister as a defensive shield. He slowly but surely started to get results and got his goal of the season in a 4-3 win over Fulham.
Fast forward to the present day and McAllister returned to a much improved role for Sheffield United three days later, but a knee problem kept him out for a month and the Japanese managed to prove his case with an impressive performance. But when Endo left for the Asia Cup earlier this year, McAllister returned to fitness.
After a fantastic 4-0 Premier League win at Bournemouth, the World Cup winners suffered their best performance of the season in a 4-1 defeat at Chelsea in midweek. No player has attempted more shots, completed more passes, won more duels or made more shots in a perfectly complete individual game.
McAllister suffered an injury late in the game when he collided with Chelsea substitute Cesare Casaday. “I’ve had a knee injury, two knees actually, but I’m fine,” he said, adding that he expected the premiership’s number six to continue. This afternoon we travel to Arsenal in the league. Of the 20 players in total, 17 were Liverpool defensive midfielders.
Mac Allister was not expected to play a regular role when he signed for the Reds last season. “No, not really,” he says. “It’s definitely not an idea. But things have changed. At the beginning of the season I didn’t have a real number 6, so I had to do that.
Jurgen likes it! So I try to do everything I can to help the team.”I love my game. I like to help my colleagues when they need protection. The position I play now is closer to defense. But at the same time I can be on the ball and I like that. “I know the fans initially talked a lot about my position in the team, but I’ve always said it’s a position I really like and I thought I could be very good at it.”
McAllister has previously played for both club and country but has developed a reputation as a progressive midfielder. And of his current role he says: “It’s completely different because as a normal number you have to have the ball more and be able to use it forward. It might be a little bit easier to play deeper,” because in some ways you get more space and more time on the ball. But it’s about understanding the game and everyone in the team helps a lot. They make everything easy for me.”
Liverpool could be temporarily eight points ahead of second-placed Manchester City. They have a game ahead at Brentford on Monday night. It was their second win at the Emirates in a month after knocking Arsenal out of the FA Cup, beating them 2-0 in the third round at the start of January. United have now lost just one of their last 40 games against domestic opposition in all competitions. “We’ve definitely improved a lot as a team since the beginning of the season,” McAllister said. “We work very hard. You can tell that every player who comes to the team knows what he has to do. It is very important to keep the level there and improve the team. We are very happy with our performance so far, but we know that we are only halfway through the season. We must continue.”Confidence is very high at the moment.
Beating a team like Chelsea 4-1 would be a big result. But we expect a very difficult game for Arsenal, just like in the FA Cup. It was a very difficult game, they have very good players, they know exactly what they want to do and what they have to do.”Are they trying to avenge this loss?” may be.
But as I said before, our team is a very good team. They don’t have to react to what happened.”But Liverpool’s win against Chelsea is a major statement of intent for the rest of the season and McAllister believes champions Manchester City and other title rivals will take note.
