How Alexis Mac Allister became Liverpool’s No 6 (and a half)

Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and the biggest test of Alexis Mac Allister’s short career as Liverpool’s No 6.

In the build-up, opinions on Mac Allister’s role and the potential problems it would cause dominated. It felt like a key moment to offer an insight into whether the Argentine’s role was sustainable in the toughest games.

Mac Allister was battling jet lag following his international break travels to South America — he admitted struggling to stay awake in Jurgen Klopp’s team meeting on Friday — so facing the best team in the league felt like a setup for failure, especially as he would be up against Rodri, who is widely recognised as the gold standard in that position.

It turned out there was no need to panic; Mac Allister produced a performance that answered plenty of the questions posed. It wasn’t spectacular, but when the microscope was put on him, he went about his business efficiently and effectively.

When Mac Allister’s arrival was confirmed in June, the discussion revolved around whether he would play as Liverpool’s left-sided or right-sided No 8 in the three-box-three system.

At the time, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were still at the club. A month later, their exits to Saudi Arabia necessitated a rethink from Klopp and his coaching staff, with Mac Allister’s versatility catapulting him from being an option at No 6 to first choice.

It wasn’t meant to stay that way. That became obvious when Liverpool tabled their £115million ($146.2m) offer for Moises Caicedo, as well as pursuing a deal for Romeo Lavia, two more natural No 6s. Both of whom ended up at Chelsea.

They pivoted to Stuttgart’s Wataru Endo, signing him for €16million — but he was seen as depth rather than a guaranteed starter. Ryan Gravenberch was added too, and while capable of operating as a No 6, he has looked more capable of playing a more advanced role in Klopp’s system. And so, Mac Allister became the answer to Klopp’s unexpected problem.

For five years between 2018 and 2023, Fabinho anchored Liverpool’s midfield. A combination of physicality, size and impressive tactical awareness provided the perfect screen in front of the defence.

The Athletic’s John Muller recently highlighted the contrast where opponents were able to progress the ball with and without Fabinho in the Liverpool side. This graphic below shows where Liverpool allowed their opponents to progress the ball in the first 12 games of the season in the last three campaigns.

Teams were unable to progress the ball down Liverpool’s centre with any frequency when Fabinho was at his best, especially in that 2021-22 season. With Mac Allister installed in that position, teams are progressing the ball at a much higher rate, highlighting that they are more willing to target that area.

It’s not necessarily a surprise given the difference in personnel. Mac Allister’s strengths lie in possession whereas Fabinho’s were out of possession, which Klopp alluded to in the build-up to the Manchester City game.

“Is Macca a natural born No 6? No,” Klopp said. “Did football develop in the last years in directions we couldn’t imagine before? Yes. Does that mean that a player like Macca can play the No 6? Definitely.

“It depends on how the whole team defends — easy as that. If we do that properly, then we have an incredible player in a central position who can find passes, a forward-thinking player.

“Do you want a player there who is just knocking players down? Someone who when we are in possession thinks, ‘Not my job, give me a break’. I like him there a lot and we as a team can benefit a lot from it if we make sure we have a really compact formation.”

It appears Liverpool were interested in going in a different direction with their No 6 anyway. Take Endo, for example; when compared to Fabinho, one man’s strengths were the other man’s weaknesses. Lavia was another who profiled differently to Fabinho. There was also a lack of height associated with all of the Liverpool summer targets, with none of them hitting 6ft (183cm).

Put simply, there aren’t that many Fabinhos in world football.

Whether you want to call it the No 6 2.0 — in line with Klopp’s re-brand — or a new 6.5, the latest evidence suggests a solution may have been found. It means addressing this position is less of a priority in upcoming transfer windows.

When we dig into the statistics of Fabinho and Mac Allister, it paints a picture you might not expect, even allowing for the latter’s smaller sample size (12 league games).

The table below compares Mac Allister’s season to Fabinho’s last year — which he spent struggling for form — and his peak in Liverpool’s 2019-20 Premier League title win.

The drop in Fabinho’s level last season is evident, but Mac Allister’s tackles (2.7 per 90) and interceptions (1.5 per 90) are the same as the Brazilian in 2019-20.

Impressively, he is averaging more possession wins per 90 (7.4 to 6.8) and possession wins in the final third (1.1 to 0.6). The latter is helped by Klopp now wanting his No 6 to become a No 8 when his team presses high.

As shown below, Mac Allister screened Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip well, getting to potentially dangerous loose balls first and retaining possession for his team. Here, he held off Erling Haaland…

In the second half, he reacted quicker than Bernardo Silva…

… keeping his cool under pressure to keep possession.

Anticipation is the theme of Mac Allister’s interceptions. He is an intelligent footballer, showing an uncanny ability to read the opposition’s next pass — a trait that led to a handful of interceptions during the City match.

Julian Alvarez was largely kept quiet and City were unable to make serious inroads through Liverpool’s centre because of the positional compactness of Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones. More frequently, City were forced wide to Jeremy Doku.

When they did, Mac Allister was rarely left alone. When Manuel Akanji skipped past him just outside the area…

Szoboszlai was there to back up his team-mate…

… and then the pair had the composure to help Liverpool play out from the back and launch a counter-attack.

Mac Allister may not necessarily be associated with getting stuck in as Fabinho is, but he is involved in more duels per 90 (12.7 to 10.5) than the man he replaced. The difference is the success rate: Mac Allister edges it on the raw numbers (5.9 to 5.7) but Fabinho’s success rate is 54.5 per cent compared to Mac Allister’s 46.7. But based on the players’ individual strengths, this isn’t a surprise.

Pace remains a problem. As Doku showed when he isolated Mac Allister and breezed past him, the Argentinian is not the quickest — but neither was Fabinho. Mac Allister is smart enough to know when to tactically foul to stop breaks, a point underlined by the fact he collected five yellow cards and a one-match ban before the international break, but he can occasionally be exposed.

It is in possession where Mac Allister’s technical ability and passing range stand out. His 70.3 attempted passes and 62 passes completed per 90 is higher than either of the Fabinho seasons we have used for comparison.

Mac Allister looks comfortable taking control, and that calmness spreads across the team to set the tempo. And this provides the biggest difference to Fabinho, who was competent in possession but generally let others build Liverpool’s attacks.

Despite wanting that element of control, Mac Allister is still willing to take risks in possession. To continue the comparison, Mac Allister this season is averaging seven progressive passes — defined as completed passes that move the ball 10 yards forward — per 90. He also is averaging 1.3 progressive carriers — defined as carries that move the ball forward 10 yards — per 90.

In comparison, Fabinho averaged 5.4 progressive passes last season and 5.6 in 2019-20. He completed 0.5 progressive carries in 2022-23 and 0.8 in the title-winning campaign.

Mac Allister’s forward-thinking passing is seen against City in the example below. He dropped deep to receive possession…

… and clipped a curled pass into space for Jones. He trusted his team-mate to deal with the pass and turn away into space and away from the pressing Bernardo.

Thirty seconds later, Mac Allister shows for possession despite having City players around him. He turned and carried the ball forward…

… then broke the midfield line with a ball slid into Jones again.

Similarly, he put Trent Alexander-Arnold into a pocket of space in front of the City defence.

But the best of the lot came after 16 minutes when Mac Allister received possession in a tight space facing towards his own goal.

He could have taken the easy option, but instead drew three City players towards him…

… and made a pass to Jones again…

… which led to Szoboszlai sliding in Darwin Nunez, who didn’t take the chance.

Mac Allister at No 6 hasn’t been perfect due to the player adapting to a new position with increased defensive responsibility. This process was going to have its bumps in the road. But with plenty of factors working against him, he stood up in Liverpool’s biggest game of the season.