Alexis Mac Allister has a ‘perfect’ relationship with his Liverpool manager (Picture: Getty Images)
Alexis Mac Allister says his Liverpool teammates are already teasing him over the closeness of his relationship with manager Jurgen Klopp, with the Argentine admitting: ‘They say that he is my dad now.’
The World Cup winner arrived from Brighton over the summer and has immediately become a regular in the Reds’ midfield, starting all five Premier League games so far.
There was interest in Mac Allister from other huge clubs but he chose to move to Anfield and play under Klopp, who he says he has a ‘perfect’ relationship with.
So perfect, in fact, that his teammates are commenting on it this early in his Liverpool career.
‘The relationship is obviously 10 points, I just arrived and when you just arrive everything is easier and everything goes perfect,’ he told La Nacion. ‘But many of my teammates tease me because they say that he is my dad now.
‘The relationship with him is perfect, he is a very charismatic person, who always tries to be close to the players. He has crazy moments that you might see in a game, and you can’t stop laughing. For me, it is a pleasure to be able to work with him.’
Alexis Mac Allister is part of a significant Liverpool revamp this season (Picture: Getty Images)
Even when Mac Allister had only just returned from international duty in South America, Klopp started him against Wolves on Saturday, which the German admitted was an error, but the rest of the squad knew would happen.
‘The last game we returned from the national team I was the only South American who played. Then they told me that he’s my dad, that he can’t take me out, that I had played all the games… and that’s how they drove me crazy,’ said the Argentina international.
‘But beyond the joke, the relationship is spectacular, he is a person that I respect, that I respect very much, and I hope that he continues like this and that I can continue learning from him on the field.’
Mac Allister played twice for Argentina in the international break, including against Bolivia at high altitude and it showed in his performance against Wolves.
Liverpool were awful in the first half, with Mac Allister sluggish and subbed off at half-time, before the Reds recovered from a goal down to win 3-1.
‘The good thing about the first half was that it was that bad that I didn’t think we could play the second half like that,’ Klopp said.
‘Obviously we wanted to start completely differently, but for whatever reason it was not possible for the boys, you can see it.
‘Low energy level, Macca [Mac Allister], some others as well, you could just see they struggled. We couldn’t change five times at half-time, so we thought we’d change the system and one player, and give us a bit more speed up front, natural speed.
‘He had some good moments in the first half but he was not disappointed to come off, more relief.’
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