Paul Scholes believes Alexis Mac Allister is so important to setting the tempo for Liverpool, that the team massively struggles when he is not at his best.
The Argentina international has played in all but five of Liverpool’s 47 games this season, including Sunday’s Carabao Cup final versus Newcastle United.
Mac Allister was involved in Newcastle’s first goal, as he was easily beaten to Kieran Trippier’s corner-kick delivery by Dan Burn, who headed the ball past Caoimhin Kelleher, but the midfielder can hardly be blamed for that considering the height difference between the two players.
However, former Manchester United star Scholes believes Mac Allister’s game in general was off against Newcastle, and that the Magpies took full advantage.
“You have to be a little bit disappointed with the way Liverpool played, especially in the midfield area. I just think Newcastle overpowered them,” Scholes said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet. “I think Mac Allister is a really good player, he’s been really good for them this season, but it was just common sense for me.
“He kept taking too many touches. When you’re playing against powerful people, it’s the last thing you do; you’ve got to take one or two touches, don’t let anyone near you.
“It’s not something Mac Allister does, is it? And he’s the player I think gets Liverpool playing, almost like a Modric has been through the years. When he’s not quite right, I just think the whole thing’s messed up.”
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Speaking after the final on Sunday, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot revealed why Mac Allister was Liverpool’s closest challenger to Burn for the game’s opening goal. He said: “We play zonal, so we have five players, zonally, close to our goal. So if the ball falls there, there is always one of the five stronger players that is going to attack that ball. And we have three players that man-mark and Macca is one of them.
“Normally a player like Dan Burn or another one runs to the zone – and I think he’s an exception to that as I’ve never seen in my life a player from that far away heading the ball with so much force into the far corner.
“That is part of logic that they either have to go far away from our zone – which 99 out of a 100 times that will never lead to a goal – or they have to arrive in our zone and that’s an equal battle if you want to say it like this. So credit to him, I think he is one of the few players who can score a goal from that distance with his head.”
