Alexis Mac Allister agreement reached as Arne Slot considers Liverpool change
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Liverpool's plan for Alexis Mac Allister's return from international duty might be subject to change. In the ECHO's player ratings for the season far, which was published this week, the 26-year-old averaged a 5.44 from the games played to date, which has been a sharp downturn on the sort of form that marked him out as indispensable last term.The ECHO's dedicated Liverpool writers have taken a closer look at the situation and assessed how Reds boss Slot might get his World Cup winner firing on all cylinders once more.READ MORE: Alexis Mac Allister plan for Manchester United to change as Liverpool await official statementPaul GorstHow much of Alexis Mac Allister's slow start to the season has been impacted by how his previous campaign ended, only he will know.The Argentina midfielder, having secured the Premier League title, sat out the final weeks after it was revealed that he had been playing through the pain barrier to secure that 20th championship in style.A truncated pre-season, however, is likely the main reason for the dip in performances from the former Brighton & Hove Albion star.
Debates will likely go on about how far below his best Mac Allister has been but there can be little doubt the 26-year-old has yet to reach his peak in the Liverpool midfield this time out.With Arne Slot to looking to assimilate Florian Wirtz into the team, focus has inevitably been trained on the more defensive-minded midfielders in the system and while Ryan Gravenberch has started the season in good form, Mac Allister is not yet near the level he was at last term.Might this be a good opportunity to bring him out the firing line for a few weeks and play Dominik Szoboszlai alongside Gravenberch? But unfortunately, Alexis Mac Allister's fitness woes have somewhat stifled the fight.The Argentina international was one of Liverpool's very best players in their Premier League-winning campaign, before succumbing to injury in April once the title was already won.
And with Ryan Gravenberch given greater freedom to get forward, Liverpool's spine of last season just isn't right.Trying to play his way into form just isn't happening for Mac Allister. An in-form Mac Allister will certainly go a long way towards turning that tide, but he is not in a position to do that just yet.You wonder how different things would be for the Reds at the start of the season were they boasting a fully fit Mac Allister, though they can't complain too much when only a point off Arsenal at the top of the table.Likewise, you wonder how the Argentine's minutes might have been managed were it not for injuries elsewhere.But with the Liverpool midfield quota now fully stocked and both Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley fit at right-back, it's time to try a new tactic with Mac Allister in order to get him back to his best.