Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Alexis Mac Allister won’t play again this season — giving him the final match of the campaign against Crystal Palace off as an additional rest period.
The Argentine has played a huge volume of games again this season under the Dutchman and didn’t travel to his former club, Brighton, on Monday. Instead, the Liverpool man is being given some more time away from the pitch to rest and recuperate ahead of pre-season rather than participate in matches where the results are meaningless.
“Alexis will not play for us this season anymore,” Slot said during his post-match press conference. The rest of the season, of course, is just one game, so it is no huge period.
“He needs rest at this moment in time to recover completely and to be ready for the start of next season,” Slot explained. “That will be no problem for him to be back next season.”
Mac Allister will finish his season with 3,569 minutes for Liverpool — with his international exploits in South America on top of that. He has played 4,495 minutes since last summer, which explains why Slot is keen to give him some rest.
With the games not meaning anything at the moment, there is no need to take any risks with players. With the title having been long wrapped up, Slot has already admitted that he is looking ahead to next year.
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“Normally, especially in this league, but in general – even in Holland – the last game is really special,” he said on Friday. “You should watch it.
“It’s about the last game and normally in this league it’s also about the last game.
“And if you want it done and you want to go after the season then wives, girlfriends, children are like, ‘Yeah, come on, I haven’t seen my dad for such a long time. Let’s go on holiday now with the family.’
“Which I can completely agree [with]. So, we were having the great position that not only we won it earlier on already, but also we’ve played on Sunday and then the next game is on Monday.
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“Like I said, even if we wouldn’t have won it yet, they wouldn’t have had four days [off] but they probably would have had two or three [days off] then as well.
“Because in the end of the season, you have to find the right balance in keeping them fit enough to play but also get them mentally fresh.
“That’s what we’ve tried to do. Last week before the Arsenal game, we had a few days off as well and this week also.”
