Alexander Isak has struggled for form since his move to Liverpool, and Alan Shearer has urged the centre-forward to ‘stop saying that he hasn’t had a pre-season’
Alan Shearer is adamant that Alexander Isak has run out of excuses for his lacklustre performances since moving to Liverpool from Newcastle United. Isak was at the heart of an acrimonious transfer saga throughout the summer window.
It eventually culminated in a British record £125m switch to the Premier League champions on deadline day. Throughout the saga, the striker refused to play for Newcastle.
That meant he arrived at Anfield lacking match sharpness. After three months, he has managed just two goals from 14 outings across all competitions.
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Shearer told Betfair: “We have to stop saying that Isak hasn’t had a pre-season. It’s been three or four months now since he joined Liverpool.
“He’s not up to speed and not the Isak that we saw at Newcastle. Whether he can be remains to be seen.”
Across his three campaigns at St. James’ Park, Isak netted 62 times and registered 11 assists in 109 matches. The Premier League’s record goalscorer highlighted a contrast in the quality of service he is receiving at Liverpool compared to what he enjoyed whilst representing the Magpies.
Shearer added: “If you look back at his time with Newcastle, most of the time in games, he was receiving early balls from out wide and through the middle. Which isn’t happening at Liverpool, and probably wasn’t ever going to when playing with Mo Salah, because Salah isn’t that type of player anyway.
“It’s not working for Isak at the minute. And I guess there are several reasons for that, but people have to stop saying he hasn’t had a pre-season.”
Isak is again a doubt to start for Liverpool in their next match against Brighton and Hove Albion. Arne Slot acknowledged during his pre-match press conference that he got a knock during the first half of their Champions League win over Inter.
The striker came off midway through the second half, being replaced by Florian Wirtz. Slot said on Friday: “Let’s see if he is able to start tomorrow.”
Liverpool’s head coach also spoke about Hugo Ekitike and Isak both starting together at San Siro. Slot said: “What we all saw, which is normal, the more they play, the more they will adapt and the better they will cooperate.
“The other two nines on the pitch for Inter (Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram) were more used to playing with each other. It’s the second time they (Ekitike and Isak) have played together, and I think we will see more of this in the future.”
