The Unsung Hero Of Argentina
McAllister is a name that is quite foreign to Argentines. But he was born in La Pampa, a province in Argentina. His father, Carlos is also a national team player who defended Argentina in the 1994 World Cup at that time with other legends.
Alexis, son of Mac Allister won the title with Argentina after winning against the previous edition of the world cup champion (France). This player from Brighton played an important role in helping Argentina win the title with his abilities in both phases, namely, attack and defense.
So curious about Mac Allister’s role for Argentina from a tactical standpoint? Let’s read the analysis.
Defensive Duties To Man-mark Griezmann
From mark stats graphic, Griezmann became one of the players with the highest players in the threat and progression section via pass.
Because of that, Mac Allister was assigned to man-mark Griezmann so Griezmann couldn’t do much in this game.
When Griezmann drops, he will follow him to press aggressively like this so that Griezmann was not comfortable helping France’s build-up.
This makes France prefer to attack from the left side, where it reaches 48% compared to the right side which is only 33%.
Griezmann, who played more on the right side, only managed to record 46 touches in this match, while Rabiot, who played on the other side, recorded 69 touches. This was Griezmann’s least touches when starting at the 2022 World Cup.
Mac Allister can also step up to press other French players if he sees someone covering Griezmann (ex: Enzo).
Mac Allister’s man-marking intensity was sufficiently maintained during the match and made Griezmann switch sides to the left so he could be more involved in the build-up, before finally being replaced by Coman.
Mac Allister’s Attacking Role
Not only his defensive aspect, but he also has pretty good attacking abilities. During a goal kick, Mac Allister as LCM is positioned parallel to De Paul as RCM.
However, that will change during the transition to the attacking phase. As has been analyzed in the Argentina-Poland match, Mac Allister is in a more advanced position where he is active in the space between the lines compared to Rodrigo De Paul, who is deeper to help Argentina’s build-up phase.
This can be seen in the opta version of the passing network and the whoscored version of the heatmap, where Mac Allister is positioned more advanced than De Paul.
Even though Mac Allister is positioned more advanced, his pass completion (89%) is better than Enzo (86%) and De Paul (87%) who were playing deeper.
From against Croatia, Argentina attacked more from the left side. After before, more often use the right side to attack.
Because of that Mac Allister was tasked with creating a wide overload with Di Maria, Acuna/Tagliafico, Messi, and with the help of Enzo on the left like this. Mac Allister is also good at positioning itself to overload and makes it difficult for Kounde to defend.
The role of Mac Allister, who is more attacking, is assigned to do a late run to the penalty box like this.
Previously, Mac Allister had scored a goal due to the late run he did against Poland.
Mac Allister’s Role In Argentina’s Goals
In the process before the penalty goal, Argentina build up with a 2–4–4 shape. We see the position of Mac Allister who joins the other three strikers, while De Paul forms a pivot with Enzo and is level with the two fullbacks.
With Argentina attacking with 5–6 men, the French backline was outnumbered. Here, Theo Hernandez is in a position to press Molina if the ball is switched, Upamecano is guarding Messi, Varane is guarding Alvarez, and Kounde is guarding Mac Allister.
Dembele helped the defense but Tagliafico stepped up too, leaving Di Maria in an unguarded position. Mac Allister combined with Alvarez and then aimed to Di Maria who won a penalty for Argentina. Mac Allister’s role in creating numerical superiority against the French backline was able to help Argentina score the first goal in this match.
Mac Allister’s off-the-ball movement helped Argentina to create chances by trying to expose the space between the French defenders.
Mac Allister has the ability to see space and pull off 1–2 combinations well so that Argentina can create dangerous chances.
Mac Allister’s ability to see empty space was seen in Argentina’s 2nd goal. Argentina took advantage of the transition situation to make a quick counter. Mac Allister saw and tried to expose the space between the French defenders (Varane and Kounde).
We can also see Mac Allister’s initiation to run and expose space faster than Tchouameni so that Mac Allister can get the ball from Alvarez’s through pass and manages to provide an assist to Di Maria.
All Argentines certainly appreciate the role played by Mac Allister during the 2022 World Cup.
His important role was able to provide the trophy that Argentina has been waiting for for 34 years.
Next, he will return to Brighton, and it is hoped that he can maintain the best form for his club.
It will be interesting to wait, whether he will stay at Brighton or he will go to another club, at least until this season ends.
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading this article.
