Might Mac Allister be Brighton’s Bissouma replacement?

Graham Potter loves a positional reinvention. Based on what we have seen in pre-season so far, then the Brighton manager’s latest attempt to coach a player into a new role involves Alexis Mac Allister taking over from Yves Bissouma as the Albion’s deep lying midfield player.

In three years of Potterball so far, Marc Cucurella has added the ability to play as a central defender as well as a swashbuckling wing back.

Solly March was good enough after Potter redeployed him at left wing back in the 2020-21 season to be talked about as a potential England call up before injury cruelly struck.

Bissouma himself went from an attack minded midfielder to one of the best holding players in the Premier League under Potter.

Dan Burn was signed as an average Championship central defender who never made a Premier League appearance for the Albion with Chris Hughton at the helm.

Potter transformed him into a 6’7 left back or left wing back worth £13 million – the third highest fee Brighton have ever received for an outgoing player after Bissouma and Ben White.

When Bissouma made the move to Spurs for £25 million, Brighton appeared to have a couple of in-house options for replacing him.

Moises Caicedo was seen as the natural successor. He shares the same sort of athleticism and ability to read the game as Bissouma, although at this moment in time he is much more eager to attack than the Malian midfielder was.

Steve Alzate has been mentioned in a few places. For him to replace Bissouma, he would need to add consistency to his game. Alzate can be great one week and disappear the next, explaining why Potter does not fully trust him to start every match in the Albion midfield.

Potter has used Adam Lallana as a holding player to good effect in the past. Jakub Moder too could do a job once he returns from his ACL injury whilst the Magic Man’s Polish compatriot Kacper Kozlowski has returned from a loan spell with Union SG.

Kozlowski hardly set the world alight during his six months in Brussels, but he would not be the first young player to be pitched into the Premier League by Potter following a non-descript spell away from the Amex. See Robert Sanchez.

Not many people thought Mac Allister would be the man to replace Bissouma. In fact, there seemed more chance of Potter turning to his selection roulette wheel like a gambler at the Hellspin casino and landing on giving Shane Duffy a go, rather than the role going to Mac Allister.

Mac Allister was signed from Argentinos Juniors as a number 10. He has spent pretty much his entire first two-and-a-half years at the Albion being used as an attacking midfielder.

And now here we are with the Premier League season less than two weeks away with Mac Allister having started Brighton friendlies against Estoril and Reading in the Bissouma role.

Mac Allister has obviously put his own twist on it, being a different player to Bissouma. Whereas Bissouma would win possession and then look to get Brighton on the front foot either by driving forward with the ball or playing a quick and simple pass, Mac Allister is more of a quarterback.

He takes the greater space afforded to him by being further away from the opposition goal and uses it to spray passes around.

In the Estoril and Reading matches, these have included a couple of attempts at longer balls towards the forwards aimed at slicing defences apart.

It is a varied approach to the short passes that normally characterise Potterball, riskier compared to the usual obsession with keeping possession which can make the Albion slow and ponderous.

Who partners Mac Allister is also key. The doubts about Mac Allister’s suitability to fully embrace the Bissouma role focus on the defensive side of his game.

Bissouma was brilliant at being in the right place at the right time and winning back possession. Mac Allister does that have that same ability… yet.

One player who has shown glimpses of it is Caicedo. Think back to Manchester City away, when Caicedo was perfectly positioned in the right place at the right time to make excellent blocks from Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne.

Without Caicedo, the 3-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium might have been even heavier. Then when West Ham United came to the Amex, Bissouma departed at half time and Caicedo took over the defensive midfield role.

Declan Rice had been the best player on the pitch in the opening 45 minutes, dictating the game as the Hammers went into the break 1-0 up.

Rice barely had a sniff following the interval with Caicedo paying him close attention, helping Brighton to come from behind and end their campaign with an impressive 3-1 victory.

Combine Caicedo’s reading of the game and defensive work – which has gone hugely under the radar so far – with Mac Allister’s playmaking and you have a two-man defensive midfield with the potential to be better than Bissouma.

In amongst all this excitement, it should definitely be mentioned that Estoril and Reading were both limited opponents.

One finished midtable in a weak Portuguese Primeira Liga. The other seem to be living in 2008 by having Paul Ince as their manager and will surely be fighting a long, hard battle against relegation out of the Championship this season.

But you can only beat what is in front of you – and Mac Allister has done that so far. The real tests will come against Manchester United, Newcastle United, West Ham and Fulham.

If Potter is to persevere with his conversion of Mac Allister into a holding midfielder, then we will have a better idea of just how successful it can be once those four matches are out of the way.

Will Potter persevere with it? The official line from the club is that they are not seeking midfield reinforcements or a replacement for Bissouma.

That does not tally with the fact that Brighton were close to landing Austrian midfielder Florian Grillitsch. The Athletic confirmed the Albion’s interest, meaning that we can be pretty certain it was genuine as Andy Naylor rarely if ever reports unsubstantiated rumours.

Grillitsch was available on a free following the expiration of his Hoffeinheim contract. He looked to be a ready-made Bissouma replacement, used most frequently as a holding player or as part of a back three on occasions.

Unfortunately, Grillitsch’s father is by all accounts a total madman and is proving a nightmare to deal with. Hence why none of the Albion, Arsenal, Galatasaray, Fiorentina or Napoli have yet managed to strike a deal.

Grillitsch still might end up with Brighton. If he doesn’t, then the Albion’s interest does at least suggest they are looking to strengthen in midfield – contrary to the official line.

With a month to go until the transfer window shuts, there is plenty of time yet for Brighton to secure a Bissouma replacement.

And if they don’t, then Potter appears to be grooming Mac Allister as the alternative. Only time will tell whether it is a success.