Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has admitted that midfielder Alexis Mac Allister just wasn’t at the races against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Alexis Mac Allister simply didn’t have the legs to make an impact for Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
That’s the view of Jurgen Klopp, who has been speaking to Liverpool’s official website after a mixed display at Molineux.
Liverpool were pretty dreadful in the first half and fell 1-0 down to a Hwang Hee-chan tap-in from Pedro Neto’s driving run.
The Reds were much better after the break and ended up 3-1 winners thanks to Cody Gakpo and Andy Robertson, as well as a Hugo Bueno own goal.
Jurgen Klopp gives honest verdict on Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool just looked completely flat in the first half and one chief culprit was summer signing Alexis Mac Allister.
The £35million addition from Brighton and Hove Albion has largely impressed since making his summer move to Anfield.
Mac Allister seemed well off the pace against Wolves though, which is understandable after his international exploits.
The midfielder started twice for Argentina during the international break, and whilst he was substituted in both games, he still had to travel all the way back to England and then play in an early Saturday kick-off.
Mac Allister was substituted at half-time after a fairly poor performance, with Klopp offering an honest verdict on his display..
Klopp suggested that Mac Allister just ‘didn’t have the legs’ alongside a number of other players, contributing to Wolves cutting through Liverpool at will in the first half.
Klopp accepted that his players just couldn’t physically play the way they wanted to on Saturday with Mac Allister a prime example.
“We were not ready first half obviously, but Wolves did really well on top of that. You could see it in these situations when they threw three players into the box and we were not there, the last step not there,” said Klopp. “I worked with these boys now, with some of them a few weeks, seven, eight or nine weeks, with some longer – I know when they can they are there. Today they couldn’t in a lot of moments. You saw it with Macca, saw it with other players, they didn’t have the legs today,” he added.
Liverpool midfield still in flux
In an ideal world, Klopp may have preferred to leave Mac Allister on the bench following his travels back to England.
Liverpool’s midfield is still a work in progress though and two new signings are still settling in.
Wataru Endo would have been an option for that holding role but is still finding his feet in the Premier League.
Add in two Japan appearances in the international break and we can understand why Klopp didn’t start him.
Ryan Gravenberch is another option but, again, he has only just joined Liverpool and throwing him in would have been a gamble.
Klopp will hope that, with some time, Liverpool don’t face issues like this again moving forward – but post-international break games are always tricky to navigate.
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