Nicolas Tagliafico praised Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister for his display in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Paraguay on Thursday.

The 24-year-old was deployed in the holding midfield role which he has been playing for his club in recent weeks and Tagliafico took to Instagram to comment on his teammate’s performance after the game:

“Player of the match!! Animal!”

Mac Allister has been criticised by some sections of the Liverpool fanbase, with some questioning his ability to play as a no.6.

However, he looked very much at home in the role playing for his country and he will likely be asked to play there again by his manager Lionel Scaloni when Argentina take on Peru next week.

Mac Allister claims he is “comfortable” with his “new position”

After putting in an impressive performance for his country, Mac Allister was asked for his thoughts about playing as a defensive midfielder. He says he has no issue playing there either for Liverpool or Argentina:

“I played more or less like I do at the club, it’s a new position but I feel very comfortable. Scaloni asks me to manage the balance of the team.”

Liverpool have been forced to play Mac Allister out of position

When the Reds originally signed the Argentinian international back in June, both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were still at the club.

The plan would have been to deploy Mac Allister as an ‘8’, with Henderson or Fabinho playing behind him. However, after the pair moved to Saudi Arabia, it left manager Jurgen Klopp searching for solutions.

Wataru Endo was signed from Stuttgart as a stop-gap but the Japanese international is clearly not trusted to play in big games, which means Mac Allister has had to fill in. It remains to be seen whether he will stay in the role for the long term.

Watch a recap of the weekend action in the Premier League on Shots! TV here