Jürgen Klopp found his new Philippe Coutinho who left five Liverpool players defeated

Alexis Mac Allister is set to replace Thiago at Liverpool by exploiting the skills of Phillipe Coutinho, proving former teammate Adam Lallana wrong.

Jürgen Klopp faced Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister six times before taking him to Liverpool, but there is one moment since last October’s 3-3 draw at Anfield that sticks with him more than anyone else.

As Brighton tried to work their way through the Liverpool press, Moisés Caicedo made a short pass slightly behind him.

Luis Díaz sensed an opportunity to attack, but the midfielder was able to stop him as he frantically tried to get one foot close to the ball.

From there he spun and circled Thiago before the Spaniard could intervene, then simply passed Fabinho and Harvey Elliott.

Now halfway down the line, Mac Allister was about to make James Milner his next victim, but the wily veteran knew he just had to take him down to stop the attack. He had beaten four Liverpool players in one go and it would have been five.

There is perhaps no better illustration of Mac Allister’s dribbling prowess than this one.

Last year he was in the 82nd percentile of central midfielders across the top five leagues for 90-minute shots (1.31), and in the Premier League specifically, he was sixth in his league table last season with 42 successful dribbles. .

Only Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard (49), Leicester’s James Maddison (46), Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães, Aston Villa’s John McGinn (45) and Wolves’ Matheus Nunes (44) have beaten him.

It’s important to put this number into context because, in theory, Mac Allister could simply try a lot of dribbling with little success.

Fortunately, although he has a slightly lower score for dribbling percentage (66.7%), he remains in the top 10 (ninth, min. 1,000 minutes and 20 successful attempts).

Of Liverpool’s seated midfielders, only Thiago (1.5 per 90 minutes) scored more completed dribbles last season.

The Spaniard has also had the highest success rate of any Premier League midfielder at 84 per cent, so Mac Allister will need to improve to reach these heights.

There are also parallels to Philippe Coutinho, who took the lead on dribbles per game in 2014/15, his last season as a dominant midfielder at Anfield.

Well, as you might expect, it’s largely due to his technical prowess and intelligence.

His precise control allows him to manipulate the ball in tight spaces and he will outwit his opponent by disguising his true intention to send him in the wrong direction. But that is not all.

Ex-teammate and ex-Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has said Mac Allister isn’t the fastest (via Graham Hunter) but that might be a bit unfair as he has a barrage of tools in his locker to keep him out of the way from opponents.

The 24-year-old really might be somewhat underrated as an athlete, perhaps because people are making assumptions based on his little 5-foot-7-inch height. He is also deceptively strong, able to hold off players and use his body intelligently.

Unsurprisingly, Mac Allister averaged 1.78 fouls per 90 minutes last season, again placing him in the 82nd percentile. Only Guimarães (83), Maddison (79) and McGinn (66) – all there for successful, significant acquisitions – suffered more fouls in midfield in the Premier League last season.

Mac Allister is so difficult to dispossess, and so gifted with the ball at his feet, that opponents like Milner often have to trip him. These skills are invaluable to Liverpool for a variety of reasons.

Mac Allister can contribute to the team building phase thanks to his resistance to pressing, he can carry the ball onto the pitch and can open up teams by punching holes in their structure, as we saw at Anfield.

Given the latter’s poor record, it’s conceivable that Mac Allister will replace Thiago in the squad for much of next season, and while those are big boots to fill, he’s already shown Liverpool that he has what it takes to be a worthy successor.