Not only has Liverpool used Alexis Mac Allister as a holding midfielder recently. He has also been charged with taking on a larger role for Argentina.
His performance in Argentina’s 1-0 World Cup qualifying win against Paraguay on Thursday night, flanked by Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul, pleased the journalists in his homeland.
“I played pretty much like I do at the club; it’s a new position for me, but I’m very comfortable,” he told reporters after the win. “(Lionel) Scaloni asks me to manage the balance of the team, to take care of the relays and to take care of myself when I leave.”
The 24-year-old may be at ease, but he is still learning on the job, and his move to a more senior post has been far from smooth.
“I enjoy it. “I’ve said it many times, it’s easy for me to say ‘it’s not my position and I do the best I can,’ but it’s not like that,” he remarked following the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Brighton last weekend, in which he was partly to blame for Brighton’s initial goal.
“Jurgen (Klopp) is playing me there, giving me his support, and I’m doing my best.”
“I think I’ve improved a lot defensively in the last couple of years, and I think it’s a job I can do well.” So I’m feeling fantastic, and I know my teammates and coaching staff are rooting for me. That is the most crucial aspect.”
Despite his steady evolution into a holding midfielder, Liverpool fans, while sympathetic to the situation, remain skeptical. The prevailing perception remains that Mac Allister is being squandered in a solitary deeper spot to which he is not naturally suited, with Reds fans wanting to see him liberated further forward.
If Fabinho or Jordan Henderson had not been the subject of surprise attention from Saudi Arabia this summer, the Argentine might have been used more as a number eight. Similarly, if Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic were not injured, or if fellow summer arrival Wataru Endo did not require a bedding in period to acclimatize to English football, Jurgen Klopp might select Mac Allister in his preferred role as well.
Nonetheless, with few ready and available alternatives, the former Brighton man drew the short straw. As a result, for the time being, he is a square peg in a round hole.
But, should Klopp revisit a pre-season trial in order to free up the £35 million man in the future?
Klopp originally used Mac Allister as Liverpool’s number six in the Reds’ last pre-season friendly against SV Darmstadt 98. While he has played in this position for seven of the club’s eight Premier League games this season, he spent the majority of the summer impressing in his preferred advanced spot.
Curtis Jones was requested to play up deeper in Singapore for the 4-0 win over Leicester City and 4-3 loss to Bayern Munich. Previously, Trent Alexander-Arnold played against Karlsruher SC and SpVgg Greuther Furth, with teenager Conor Bradley starting at right-back after an excellent season on loan at Bolton Wanderers.
If the Northern Ireland international hadn’t then suffered a stress fracture in his back, which sidelined him for several months, who knows if he would have done enough to keep his right-back spot at the start of the season, freeing Alexander-Arnold to play in midfield. After two positive performances in Germany, it certainly appeared like a possibility, even if Klopp later stated that he wanted his newly-appointed vice-captain to return to a defensive role.
“After we put him in this flexible role (at the end of last season), everyone told us he should play completely in midfield without saying why,” Klopp said at the end of July. “Because it’s a holding position, it’s a completely different position than he played last season or for England.” Much more planning is required.
“Trent can play the position; it all depends on who is to his left and right.” This pre-season, we believed it was a very nice and important thing to do.
“We’d like to try it again with Trent as a right-back.” Then we’ll see how the season begins.”
Unsurprisingly, Alexander-Arnold has remained at right-back ever since, albeit in Liverpool’s inverted hybrid role, with system changes allowing him to shift inside to both center-midfield and center-back, as well as a more natural wide station.
Despite this, he appears to be considered an England midfielder after scoring and assisting from a number eight position during the June international break against Malta and North Macedonia. When Gareth Southgate’s current team for October internationals was published, the 25-year-old was named as a midfielder rather than a defender.
Last night, Alexander-Arnold started as right-back for England in a friendly against Australia. However, after one of those international performances in midfield four months ago, Southgate said of the Liverpool man, “He showed exactly what we think he could be capable of and he gives us something different to our other midfield players.”
What better moment to pose the question again, in the midst of Mac Allister’s growing pains as a number six? Should Alexander-Arnold play in midfield?
There is a case for it in the near run. After all, Joe Gomez has had a strong start to the season at right-back. On paper, a team starting the England international in defense with Alexander-Arnold as a number six and Mac Allister as a number eight would appear more comfortable.
Nonetheless, Klopp has already restructured Liverpool’s system to extract more from the defenders in key positions. As a result, unless pushed by injury, another switch appears improbable.
If Klopp had chosen to keep Alexander-Arnold as his holding midfielder at the start of the season, he would have done so.
Despite the ongoing debate over whether or not to play the 25-year-old in midfield, Southgate’s subsequent use of him farther forward, and even his suitability for such a role in comparison to Mac Allister, Klopp’s pre-season statements imply his own ambitions for the player.
Regardless of what England’s squad lists state, Alexander-Arnold is still a defender at Anfield. Clearly, the need for him in this job is greater than his future duty as Mac Allister.
Klopp has chosen his interim Fabinho replacement, whether you like it or not. With nearly 23 years of managing expertise and daily observation of his players in training, the German has found promise in the working experiment that eludes the untrained eye.
And, unless Endo, Bajcetic, or Thiago step up and assume the position in the next weeks and months, Mac Allister will continue to be Liverpool’s holding midfielder, for better or worse, while he learns on the job.