Argentina’s Alexis Mac Allister and Spain’s Víctor Muñoz will be given at least three weeks off following Sunday’s World Cup final in accordance with FIFA’s rules. This means the pair will miss all but the final pre-season friendly on August 16th, with their return dates somewhere in the range of August 9th, returning to training (and completing fitness tests) the following day.
This would make a bid to start on the opening match day — August 23rd — quite an ask for the pair, due to both fitness and mental readiness. Liverpool have a new manager, and Andoni Iraola will want to use pre-season to increase overall squad fitness as well as to instill a new mode of playing. Muñoz is himself new to the side, and will need to integrate to a new team as well as return to fitness following the World Cup. The Spaniard has not featured for Spain, however, so will not struggle with fatigue in the same way Mac Allister likely will, though his match fitness is therefore likely much lower than that of his new colleague.
The Argentine midfielder has put in a lot of mental and physical work thus far at the World Cup, and went semi-viral after covering the most ground (75.5km) of any player in the semi-final against England…a stat that likely elicited some groans from many of us. Mac Allister has come back from international duty a bit fatigued before, though hopefully Iraola’s words on Curtis Jones’ future means the Reds will have some depth in the center of the pitch and won’t need to overload any one player. Dominik Szoboszlai’s new contract adds all the more cushion in that area, though of course having a fit right back was a major midfield impediment last season.
While it’s fair of us Liverpool fans to selfishly worry about the energy Mac Allister expends, he has most certainly had an impact to be proud of on this Argentina side. Regardless of the outcome on Sunday there’s a second stat that’s gone somewhat more under the radar: per Opta Alexis Mac Allister has played in more World Cup games without losing than any other player, winning 13 (11 in open play, two via penalty shootouts). Though he is not always one to capture the headlines for this Argentina side (the good ones or the bad ones), he is clearly key to what Lionel Messi’s side are able to accomplish.