NewsAlexis Mac Allister on Liverpool's midfield evolution and working with Arne Slot

The Argentina international has featured in all 17 matches of the head coach’s tenure so far and has started all-but one of the Reds’ 15 outings in the Premier League and Champions League.

Slot has overseen a hugely impressive start to his time at Anfield, registering 15 wins, one draw and a sole defeat from those 17 fixtures, and Mac Allister has explained how his role has changed this season when compared to his duties under Jürgen Klopp.

The No.10 recently told the club’s official matchday programme: “In terms of the change, perhaps with Jürgen I played as a lone five [holding midfielder]. So, the position was very different. I was much more defensive than anything else.

“Nowadays, given we play with two fives, I can be a little freer and if we start with two sitting midfielders and one a little further forward, that changes things.

“For instance, when the ball goes out to the left full-back, I’m the one who can move further forward, and Ryan [Gravenberch] becomes the number five.

“So, the system has changed a little, but the main ideas are the same. I think perhaps the big change is in having that patience to have longer periods of possession and dominate games more and obviously that creates more chances.”

Despite Liverpool’s strong start to the campaign – the Reds sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League, alone at the summit of the Champions League table and in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup – Mac Allister feels the process of adjustment from Klopp to Slot is ongoing.

He added: “I think we’re in that transitional period.

“We were used to being very direct and perhaps played more long balls and nowadays with the new coach, the idea is completely different, and we are working on being more patient, to have longer periods in possession so that the games aren’t as end-to-end so that we can dominate them.

“I think that was kind of the mistake we made in the Premier League game against Nottingham Forest, which cost us the match. But like I said, we are in a transitional period. Jürgen was here for eight years so it’s not so easy to change that playing style but that’s what we’re working on, and I think we’re doing it very well.

“I think we’ve all been really happy with the arrival of Arne and we all know how much he knows about football, so for us it’s great and we know that this is the journey we are on.

“I feel like there has been a big change, not just in terms of the managers, but in terms of the management team and the sporting director too. But to be honest, we are working really well.

“I feel there’s a lot of positivity within the club and we’re working fantastically well with the new manager. We can really see that he has great ideas, his mentality and what he gets across to us is important so we’re happy.

“Like I say, we’re still in this transitional phase of looking to get to where the manager wants us to be.”

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