A player’s progression and improvement rarely run along a linear path. Setbacks are inevitable, and they might get better in one area while taking a step back in another.
If they make a transfer, there’s a potential change in style with both team and league to consider too. This can be seen with a particular metric for Alexis Mac Allister, the Argentine midfielder who may be on the verge of solving a significant issue for Liverpool.
His record with ground duels helps prove the above point. The metric combines dribbles, fouls and tackles (all of which can be won or lost) to give a flavor of how a player fares when directly challenging an opponent on the deck.
In his final full season with Boca Juniors in his homeland, Mac Allister won 53 per cent of the ground duels he contested (per Sofascore). It was little surprise that he saw a dip of nine per cent during his first full campaign with Brighton in the Premier League as he acclimatized to life in English football. It’s not that the sport is less or more physical in Argentina necessarily, but with around 50 per cent more yellow cards handed out per game, it’s clearly refereed differently and that counts for a lot with duels.
By his sophomore year with the Seagulls (2021/22), Mac Allister returned to his Boca ground duel win rate of 53 per cent, then upped it again to 57 last term. The 24-year-old is only four games into his Liverpool career — and his playing time has been shortened by an erroneous red card — but he has been successful in 58 per cent of his ground duels for his new club.
