Jurgen Klopp is picking 24-year-old in a position he was never supposed to play for Liverpool

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There were plenty of talking points from Liverpool’s hard-fought draw against Manchester City on Saturday.

From Alisson Becker’s rare off-day to the excellence of Joel Matip, every aspect of the Liverpool team has already been put under the microscope.

One of those to emerge from the battle with his reputation enhanced has been Reds midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. And the Argentine is today the subject of a piece from The Athletic, who analyse what made him stand out against City.

Within the piece is an acknowledgement that Mac Allister was never actually signed to play the No.6 role that he currently is for Liverpool. It’s claimed that the 24-year-old was in fact bought from Brighton as a No.8.

However, after Jordan Henderson and Fabinho left the club after his arrival, a ‘rethink’ was needed by Jurgen Klopp and his coaches. They did sign Wataru Endo having missed out on Moises Caicedo. But with Endo claimed to have always been seen as a ‘depth’ option, Mac Allister’s versatility is said to have led to him being installed as the key man in defensive midfield.

As a result of his performances, bolstering the position is reportedly no longer a priority in the January transfer window.

Mac Allister takes on unfamiliar role

Heading into the Man City game, there were plenty of questions surrounding Mac Allister’s ongoing selection in defensive midfield.

And while it’s true that those questions will remain for the foreseeable future, the Argentina international’s performance answered a good deal of them.

Truly, it felt like the game where Mac Allister showcased exactly why Klopp is so confident that his No.10 can play a deeper-lying role.

He isn’t Fabinho, that’s clear. But given that Liverpool are changing things up in the way they play, you really can see how Mac Allister is appealing to Klopp.

If he can keep what we saw against City up for the next few games, then supporters will become much more reassured.

From our point of view, we’re already sold. We would like to see Macca playing a little further forward and influencing games with his vision and weight of pass, but we actually really like him in the 6.

It might not work in every game, but Alexis has shown more than enough that he can be converted full-time. His tactical awareness is off the scale and you feel that with him sitting at the base, Mac Allister can become the dictator in Liverpool’s play.

Not everyone will have the same view and there will be plenty who would prefer to see a more traditional stopper coming in over the next two transfer windows. But in our view – and seemingly in Klopp’s view too – this unorthodox solution is starting to look like the way forward.