Mac is most def not a no 6. He’s a playmaker, a box-to-boxer, a whatever, but he’s not a holding midfielder. That’s why he’s not been performing. Why Klopp plays him there is frankly beyond me.
From a shear numbers sense, we don’t need another midfielder. Then again, I absolutely hate Mac playing in the 6. If Endo can’t be trusted and Andre is seen as the one, then I think we absolutely have to get him, especially for the fee being thrown around. That likely means at least one other midfielder, aside from Thiago, leaves - either on loan or permanently - in the summer.
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Thiago is gone. Sorry, you edited.
Bajcetic could go on loan once he recovers. There are question marks about Jones‘ fitness too.
Yes just edited to say in addition to Thiago. That’s a given.
Or Elliott gets pushed forward to the right wing where he started his career and had a damn good season at Blackburn in that role.
The midfield is much better than last season. What needs to still emerge is clarity over the defensive role. At the moment Mac has been getting the nod. He can do a job there, sometimes very well, but sometimes he also looks a bit overrun.
We have Endo, and I’m not sure I would say it’s a matter of trust as to why he isn’t playing, but probably more because Klopp thinks MacAllister is the better player.
We are stocked in midfield in many ways, and yet we also find ourselves trying to find the right option in the defensive role. It feels as though we are settling for someone who can do a job there, but it isn’t their forte.
Maybe they will keep improving in the role and we won’t look back? MacAllister is a very good footballer, and that is entirely possible. Or maybe we need another signing. It’s something to watch.
If Andre isn’t the level of player to be better than Endo, and better than MacAllister in the 6 role, we should not sign him as it stockpiles midfielders and doesn’t move it forward. If he is better, go get him!
If unsure, I would pass on it, though it slightly runs the risk of watching him blossom at a lower Prem club, and then when he’s worth £100M we will all be wringing our hands over not signing him now.
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What does David Lynch actually know? Why would the club leak any info at this time, as seems odd to make that statement right now…or is it a quiet day for David, and helpfully the tweets that followed the Andre one were all about Macca at No.6 and what the data shows.
Maybe we enter the race in December, announce him on 1st Jan.
I want us to sign an out and out No.6, given Thiago will be gone in the summer.
It was only a few minutes here and there, but I liked Mac when he was used as the #8. Think he will be even better once he gets played there regularly. So calm in small spaces, crowded areas, always seems to have a solution for the next pass, even when it looks like nothing is on. He’s not terrible at #6, but we could have great balance with his control at LCM (very able to help out our #6 in the build up phase), coupled with Szobo’s dynamism at RCM.
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To add to the convo, it may just be me, but it doesn’t look like Mac enjoys his role at the moment. Something about his body language tells me “this isn’t what I signed up for.” I’d like to see Szobo, Mac, and Grav/Jones rotating as the 8’s with a proper (but progressive) #6.
Virgil made the comment a couple of weeks ago that everyone acknowledges it isnt what he’d choose to be doing if he had it his way, but he understands the rationale and is working hard to make it work.
FWIW, my take is the positions on the pitch he’s being asked to work in are things he is perfectly comfortable in and has a lot of experience in. I think just he’s just more used to having a bit more defensive support when in those areas before. So I think the learning curve for him is less about how deep he is finding himself on the ball. And he has actually been very productive in that sense. I think it’s more just about balancing the risk reward without a Caicedo next to him, or a De Paul (for Argentina) who plays ostensibly in front of him but with a brief to cover a LOT of ground kicking people. So I think it’s more a thing of security than the area of the pitch per se.
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Mac Allister just isn’t athletic enough to help us defend the transition in that role. He’s also not big/physical enough to dominate in other 50/50 situations.
We can cover for that to some extent, by having all of the ball and having athletic players around him, but that weakness is still there. Away from home it has proven to be something the opposition have looked to exploit (with success).
There was a reason we bid for Lavia and Caicedo after signing Mac. Mac should be an option for the ‘6’, but not the go to player, and that was probably the plan when he signed.
The Endo signing did very little to change the situation. That’s not the calibre of player who should be starting for us.
Sign a properly good option for the ‘6’ and our balance looks much better.
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If we take him at his own word, it’s because Endo hasn’t quite had the benefit of a full pre-season or being perfectly integrated into how we play yet.
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I don’t know Andre and I don’t have the feeling he’ll come.
Personally i’d prefer another Lighthouse/Dyson. Someone bigger and more physical in front of our backline.
Rather than Athletic I would say it is pace that Mac lacks and for me if we are looking at another player for the 6 role then he needs to be quick.
Just look at the goal Luton scored if we had a 6 with pace in their rather than Mac he would have been in position to cut out the final pass.
Not an easy find to get a 6 that is as good in possession as Mac but also has pace to recover when we lose possession
I think the main problem is we cannot rely on 3 of them(Thiago,Bajcetic and Jones) because of constant injuries.
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And with that other injuries will come due to overplaying.
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I think Jürgen knows Alexis is not good enough as a 6. Hence why we were about to spend 111million on Caicedo.
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Read an article that called him ‚Brazilian Kimmich’ 
Now I definitely don’t want him.
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He’s a vaccine denier?
If we aren’t getting him. No worries.
Buy a RB , transition Trent into the DM role.