On Wednesday evening, Alexis Mac Allister enjoyed his first outing in a Liverpool shirt in the club’s opening pre-season friendly against Karlsruher.
Mac Allister, who joined from Brighton in June for a fee of $45m (£35m/€40m), featured in the second half against the German second-tier outfit, and played his part in a three-goal turnaround.
The Reds went 2-1 down not long after half-time but following Cody Gakpo’s equalizer, Diogo Jota danced through the host’s defense in stoppage time to put Liverpool ahead.
A matter of seconds after the ensuing kick-off, Mac Allister would pounce on a loose ball, slip Jota in behind with a perfectly-timed pass and watch the Portuguese sweep it home to make it 4-2. He’d marked his unofficial debut with an assist.
Asked about the service from Mac Allister after the game, Jota was effusive in his praise.
“I really like these kinds of players I have to tell you,” he said (via BBC Sport). “They can see the passes — like Szoboszlai — you just need to make the run and they will see it and that’s amazing.
“I start to see I can link up very well with him and hopefully we can take this into the season.”
Manager Jürgen Klopp agrees. Speaking on the club’s official podcast, he raved about the vision of his new signing.
“All offensive players are licking their fingers for a pass from Alexis,” said the German. “It’s super impressive his eye for a pass.”
Mac Allister’s gifts are evidently visible to the naked eye, but the stats also demonstrate what Jota and Klopp are talking about.
The 24-year-old notched 47 key passes in last season’s Premier League, 16 more than the best Liverpool midfielder in Jordan Henderson. He would rank inside the league’s top 35 overall, underlining his ability to link up with attackers.
Mac Allister also played 33 balls into the penalty area, which shows that he can not only spot but subsequently pick out passes in crowded areas. That placed him inside the league’s top 50, and was only beaten by one of his counterparts at Anfield (Henderson on 47).
Most impressively of all, he figured in the top 10 for through balls (15), defined as a pass played in behind the opposition defenders into open space. This, above all, points to a penchant for a perfectly-judged weight of pass. Again, Henderson was his closest competitor in this regard, but he only managed nine over the course of the season.
All of this gives Liverpool a new dimension, one that the Reds’ five senior attackers will relish, especially Darwin Núñez and Jota given their predatory movements.