What's going on with Alexis Mac Allister?

KIRKBY — When Liverpool’s analysts roll the tape of Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City, Alexis Mac Allister will scarcely recognise the player on screen. Twice in the final 15 minutes the Argentine was central to the goals that flipped the match, first sticking out a half-hearted leg at Rayan Cherki’s cross that Bernardo Silva rammed home, then drifting out of position with Curtis Jones to allow Matheus Nunes a free run that ended with Alisson conceding a decisive penalty.

Those snapshots have become too familiar. A midfielder once hailed by head coach Arne Slot as incapable of producing “a poor performance all season” is now the symbol of a midfield that has lost control of games and, with it, Liverpool’s grip on a top-four place.

Numbers tell the story. Compared with last term, Mac Allister’s tackles, interceptions and duels won are down, while his progressive passes and chances created have dipped. He has yet to score in the Premier League and, for the first time in a Liverpool shirt, looks a step behind the pace of the contest.

Niggling injuries have not helped. A disrupted summer meant the 27-year-old reported late for pre-season and spent the autumn “playing catch-up”, as he admitted in July. In November he insisted he felt “good mentally and physically”, yet the consistency that defined his maiden campaign at Anfield has eluded him.

Fatigue is an obvious culprit. Mac Allister has already clocked 39 appearances for club and country this season and has barely had a sustained break since the 2021 Copa America. International duty with Argentina involves round trips of more than 7,000 miles, a schedule so draining that Jurgen Klopp once hooked him at half-time at Wolves, noting the midfielder was “relieved” to come off.

Tactical tweaks have not helped either. Slot has deployed him on the left of a central trio, a role that demands both defensive diligence and forward thrust. Mac Allister believes he is at his best with a dedicated No 6 behind him, a luxury Liverpool cannot currently provide. The absence of familiar partners — Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez have been in and out of the side — has also eroded the midfield’s cohesion.

Still, the effort is there. His average distance covered (10.98 km per game) and sprints (10.23) are marginally up on last season, undercutting the social-media charge that he has become a “passenger”. Yet effort without impact is its own concern, and Liverpool’s coaching staff must decide whether a rest — or a reconfiguration of personnel around him — is the antidote.

For now, options are thin. Curtis Jones is similarly out of form, Wataru Endo and teenager Trey Nyoni are trusted only sparingly, while Dominik Szoboszlai has been pressed into emergency service at right-back. A January reinforcement never materialised, leaving Slot to coax a revival from within.

The stakes are high. Liverpool fear another season outside the Champions League places, and Mac Allister’s return to authority is central to avoiding it. Real Madrid remain long-term admirers — they considered an approach in 2023 — but the player’s camp insist he is “fully focused on Liverpool and the current season” with a contract running to 2028.

Whether that focus is enough will decide not only the club’s trajectory between now and May, but whether the man who helped deliver a title and a World Cup can rediscover the version of himself currently visible only on rewind.