Alexis Mac Allister has admitted it took Liverpool’s new-look midfield time to gel during Jürgen Klopp’s final season in charge. But it was during that frustrating campaign that the foundations for the 2024–25’s Premier League title were ultimately laid.
With the spectre of Klopp’s imminent departure looming, Liverpool could only manage third place in final 2023–24 table, nine points behind champions Manchester City.
There had also been a complete overhaul in midfield coming into the campaign, with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also leaving. Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch arrived to replace them.
“Everything takes time,” Mac Allister reflected in a piece for The Players’ Tribune.
“The club had basically turned over the entire midfield. An iconic group that had won everything. When me, Dom, Ryan and Endo came in, it took us a minute to be comfortable playing our way, you know? That midfield was very heavy metal. We were different players. A bit less direct.
“We like to play. But when you have players like Mo [Salah] and Lucho [Díaz] and Cody [Gakpo] up top, they want the ball yesterday. It took us some time to adapt.”
Mac Allister, who cost an initial £35 million ($47.4 million) to buy from Brighton & Hove Albion, admitted that the penny dropped after a frustrating 1–1 draw against Luton Town in October 2023. The seeds for what was an unexpected title charge the following season, with a change of manager during the intervening summer, were sewn that day.
“I’ll never forget, we went to Luton and drew 1–1, and when we got to the dressing room afterwards, we knew we played badly,” Mac Allister explained.
“But then Jürgen came in and he delivered a message that we really needed to hear. Honest and no-nonsense. He said, ‘My old midfield would have had the balls to go and win that game.’ I remember just looking down at the floor, like: Damn. OK. He’s right.
“I think that was the turning point for us. We started to play with more of an edge, more direct, faster. More cojones. And we ended up getting really close, as a group.”
Mac Allister went on describe Arne Slot as the perfect “bridge” from Klopp.
“It’s funny because I was so close with Jürgen that my teammates were always making fun of me saying, ‘Ahh, Klopp is your dad. Go give dad a hug!’” he recalled.
“What can I say? I like to speak to my managers on the training ground and understand what they want from me. It was the same with [Roberto] De Zerbi [at Brighton] and now it’s the same with Arne. I have four or five dads, I guess!
“When Arne came in, it was a huge change for us, because his style is a bit different. It’s less rock and roll and more possession, but it worked out so well for us. But his support off the pitch was even more important for me. I don’t want to go into details, but I was going through some very personal difficulties last season. I told one person what I was going through, and it ended up reaching Arne.
“He called me into his office one day. You never know how something like that is going to go in football. But Arne was amazing about everything. He let me get everything off my chest, and after that, I felt like I could breathe a bit easier.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alexis Mac Allister Reveals Moment Liverpool Became Premier League Title Contenders.
