07 Nov 2023 16:31:04
What are people thoughts on Alexis MacAllister? There's lots of talk about him being played out of position and that's apparently why he's been so poor. And he has been poor. Constantly giving ball away, bullied off the ball, can't seem to make a tackle without getting booked and one pass aside has done nothing going forwards. I just can't see him having a career with us. For me He just doesn't have the raw materials for a Klopp midfield and he won't play up front.

{Ed025's Note - it is not working for him at the moment GG but i still think the guy has ability, his basics are lacking though like instead of going to the ball he is waiting for it to come to him, and he looks slower than i remember him at Brighton, still has time to turn things around of course mate and maybe if he was played in his favoured position he would improve..

1.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 17:32:45
OP, he is being played in the wrong position hence for the most part, he is struggling. it's tht simple. Also, keep in mind that the whole midfield needs a lot more time to play together and understanding is important in order to avoid miscommunication that lead to him passing the ball into areas he thinks his team mate will be and suddenly he is somewhere else. The inverted crap does not help either, I would add.

2.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 17:34:53
Its a case of asking an attack minded player to play a defensive role. It doesn't come naturally to him.

He was brilliant at Brighton playing the role he is most comfortable with and most effective at.

Its like asking a centre back to pay full back and assuming he should be great at it just because it is part of the back 4.

I believe he will be a great player for us once the def mid situation is sorted and he is allowed to concentrate on playing the position he is best at.

3.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 17:51:35
Keita 2.0.

4.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 17:52:55
I try to never criticise a player playing out of position. But he gives the ball away every single time he gets it.

He’s getting worse and worse in that role, January can’t come quick enough for Mac.

Totally not his fault it’s 100% on Klopp this one.

5.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 18:26:53
His pace won’t improve by changing positions. His reading and positioning is poor which is why he is struggling at DM role. I don’t know how any of these would change if you move away from the deeper role.
Once Thiago comes back he is on to the bench.

6.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 19:20:41
Totally not his fault he gives the ball away every time he gets it? and that is klopps fault? Sorry, i can understand when he's been caught when having to do No.6 things but a lot of the time he's in positions he would have played at Brighton and he's still giving it away. Good player, low on confidence but we can't give him a pass when the likes of jones and elliott don't get one.

7.) 07 Nov 2023
07 Nov 2023 21:09:04
A players weakness can be mitigated when they’re playing in a position that brings the best out of their strengths.

8.) 08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023 06:44:06
100% faith, but a player shouldn't be excused of every mistake he makes because of the position he's in either. q.

9.) 08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023 08:41:52
I was never convinced about him at Brighton tbh and wasn’t too excited when we signed him.

Now we have him I think we should just support him in whatever role he plays. The constant picking at everything he does is just counter productive.

He definitely does not give the ball away every time he gets it, he definitely does not get booked for every tackle and he definitely has done more going forward than just one pass.

He plays the ball through the lines really well but those passes by nature are more risky than just playing sideways and backwards.

Im willing to give him more time before writing him off.

10.) 08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023 16:41:06
Faithinworks, my sentiments exactly. Any coach will tell you that. The late Tomislav Ivic once said that if you play a right footer at LB, he loses about 25% of his capabilities for the most part. Apply that to Macca who thrived cos he had a DM in Caicedo next to him. What do we do? We play him all alone in the 6 and have Trent invert to be a double pivot which makes no sense and Macca is poor? Play him in his best position and then, we can judge how poor he is. Not before, IMO.

11.) 08 Nov 2023
08 Nov 2023 18:01:30
Macca was a 10 before he went to Brighton. He is not a defensive minded player. He lacks pace to play at 6 that's been woefully evident. My worry for him is that once we do get cover at 6, the 8s will already be established which to me is looking like Gravenberch and Dom.

12.) 09 Nov 2023
09 Nov 2023 00:17:14
Jude - I disagree because in this instance Klopp has addressed why he is playing Macca in that role for now. So in essnece, in this case I think we can excuse the player because Klopp is essentially telling us he is taking the good with the bad. That doesn't mean the players don't try, or we don't expect them to perform well. But I think there is a bigger picture here in that the player is being asked to perform outside of his strengths. The fan critique often overlooks this and start making assertions about the players performance and then their place in the team.

anyways, I think Macca has been ok. I would like to see him more in the 8/ 10 role as he can be impactful there. Klopp has history of pigeon holing players based on a couple of their charachteristics just to fill a gap. It's ok short term, but long term not good for the player or the team.

13.) 09 Nov 2023
09 Nov 2023 06:20:28
Ed001 just reading this through this thread mate, why is Klopp playing Mac as a 6 every game when we have Endo available? Do you think that he played in a similar roll to Sob and Grav previously at BHA so the only place left in midfield is as DM? It’s almost like he has been shoehorned in there and is clearly not his best position.

{Ed001's Note - Klopp and Lijnders want more creativity there, which was earmarked for Trent to test out in preseason until Bradley's injury put paid to it. Mac is there for what he provides in terms of keeping possession and picking a pass. He was shoehorned in due to Bradley's injury and the lack of other options. He tried McConnell (iirc) during the preseason but he was worse defensively than Mac Allister. Endo joined late, which has left him playing catch up a bit, but I am sure he will get regular rotation in the position including the odd league game as the season goes on. Up to him to then perform well enough to nail down the place.}