Alexander ISAK: 2026/27

True, that game is gone now. Toughest one for him to play.

He looks a shadow of his former self though and has for a while even before injury.

Yesterday was the first time he played a full game for us. Wild.

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There was 1 point late in the game, I think it was Frimpong or Koumas that got to the byline and pulled it back.

The sort of ball Isak was best at in reacting to and finishing.

Defenders body shape was exactly the same and anticipated it to a point where he was about 2 yards away from Isak when clearing.

Watching it really worried me. His once ruthless ability of movement in the box and finishing low crosses and cut backs looks gone. Whether that be from terrible injuries last season but I do genuinely think he hasn’t recovered since the Summer where he went on strike and it’s put his ability and confidence in limbo.

My concerns aren’t as deep (clearly) as others - his general play to me looks fairly good, what I was disappointed in was the fact he couldn’t make more of the chance when Gakpo teed it up nicely for him…(ok it was on his left foot) but he buried those more often than not in a Newcastle jersey.

Also too static with his movement in the box when the ball is about to come in from wide.

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Yeah, it was a timid performance. We can bemoan the service to him, but 1) there was actually a fair amount of decent service into him that he was too on his heels to respond to. And 2) there were loads of times the ball was played into him and he meekly lost it. I’m sure if I rewatched I’d find more example, but I only recall one time the ball getting into his feet under pressure and us coming away with it. And for the focus on his penalty area prowess, it is this part of him his game that marked him out as the unicorn that justified a fee of that size. And it was no where to be seen.

Maybe it was just the occasion, and with more momentum and confidence he’d handle it better next time. But it is a concern about whether he has enough of that dog in him for this to not be a recurring issue - unplayable when he fancies it, but has to be somewhat coddled to get that out of him.

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Hope I’ve never been more wrong on something.

Don’t think he’ll make it here. Would definitely prefer Darwin over him and even think Gakpo would be a better CF for us. Both players who are naturally more involved in the games even if they don’t score.

Watched him many times at Newcastle. A deep sitting team under Howe and he was a very good goal threat from counter attacks. Pretty sure Sociedad used similar tactics but I did not follow him in Spain.

Just like his time in Dortmund I don’t think it works for him in an attacking/ball playing side.

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Seen it from players who have left places under a cloud in the past. If he still looks lost in 5 games time then I worry especially with no Hugo.

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With Isaac, I think back to some of the players making their debut for LFC, and there is not many players over the years; if any; whose debut I haven’t watched/studied with interest… Keegan, Dalglish, Emlyn Hughes, McDermott, David Johnson, Mane, Gini, Fowler, Owen and many others… Every single one, watching them play, seemed to have, for want of a better phrase, the ā€˜x’ factor…
Watching Ian Rush getting his first few games in a red shirt for the first team… he was like a gazelle, a ball-bearing in a pinball machine… he terrorised defenders for the full 90mins… he never gave them a minute to rest - plundered 30 goals from 49 appearances in his first season, at 21yrs of age…! Couldn’t be bullied off the ball, couldn’t be intimidated by yard dog defenders, the guy must have been a nightmare for opposing teams (ask Everton)…
Then I look at the most expensive player we have ever paid for… As a fan of LFC, I want him to score squillions… but to me, the lad, for whatever reason regarding his fitness and other stuff, does not show any ā€˜Zing’ in his play or application…!
He doesn’t seem to instil fear into opposing defenders, and most certainly, fails to get me on the edge of the chair with excitement…
In my opinion, he needs to go on a scoring spree asap over 9/10 weeks, bulging the net each game… only then do I believe he will become a real asset to the team… If he goes the next 9/10 games without scoring and playing at a similar level as to yesterday… then I really do think we have got a major problem to resolve, and I’m glad it is not me that has to find the answers

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The same Darwin who just got loaned out to Al Diriyah because he was shite for Al Hilal.

Some ridiculous comments being made on the back of one match :roll_eyes:

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Couldn’t care less what happens in Saudi. Darwin at Liverpool was a much better player than Isak so far and I don’t think that’s because of the injuries.

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Well it is entirely down to the injuries because Isak has hardly played and so we can’t really judge him.

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There was a not small group who said we shouldn’t sign Isak, and especially not for that price, because he was a sick-note. It’s not a surprise that he is, indeed, a sick-note. I guess it’s a surprise that he returns to the team soft as a virginal butterfly landing on a daffodil.

He’s a good player but he’s weak and he’s soft and he’s timid. No way he receives this level of confidence from the fans if he was signed from Portugal at that price.

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It’s not one match. We signed him one year ago.

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During which he hardly played because Van den Ven broke his ankle, but you know he’s a sick note and soft for not shaking it off.

The criticism in this thread after one fucking game is ridiculous. Some perspective wouldn’t go amiss.

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Again, not one match. One year.

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Small matters of no preseason and a broken leg last year

Yeah, and Santi CaƱizares would’ve won a World Cup if he hadn’t dropped that bottle of Yves Saint Laurent on his foot and FĆ”bio AurĆ©lio was probably a top ten LFC player of all time if he hadn’t had a kick about with his lad.

This boy Isak is soft as whipped diarrhea and probably one of the top five worst transfers of all time.

He is 26, by the way. Not a child.

Should’ve not signed him. Not for that price. Not that late in the window. Not after we signed Hugo because we also have Gakpo.

Don’t think he’s the type of CF that works in an attacking minded club. That’s why he failed at Dortmund.

I know Darwin wasn’t great. He missed loads of chances. Was offside all the time. But was involved all the time with and without the ball. Gave defenders a difficult time with his natural intensity.

I know which CF I prefer and this is not based on one game because I’ve seen Isak at Dortmund and Newcastle.

Btw I expect Isak to score at least two goals in the next 4 games but I also expect him to get injured before October.

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It’s a United-esque signing.

I agree on the inflated price, the tardiness and about the overall necessity of his signing, having already signed Ekitike, but preferring Nunez to Isak as a player seems misguided to say the least.

Nunez looked promising in the beginning, somewhere along the way turned into a poor man’s Dirk Kuyt and by the end he wasn’t offering even that. Isak is on another level quality-wise. He just needs to play in a functioning setup that will allow him to perform.

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