LIVERPOOL BOSS ARNE SLOT DEFENDS LACKLUSTRE PERFORMANCES OF £125M SIGNING ALEXANDER ISAK
Arne Slot has warned rival fans to not forget just how electric Alexander Isak can be when he is fully fit and firing.
The Liverpool head coach insists he always knew it would take a number of months for his £125million star striker to show his true form.
It comes after Isak forced through a Deadline Day move from Newcastle to end a turbulent will-he-won’t-he saga that dragged on all summer.
And Slot said: ‘That was the most difficult thing about signing him. I think I said back then that we signed him for six years, not for three months, and I’ve tried to make clear from the start how difficult the first few months would be for him.
‘Every player wants to play 90 minutes (after) 90 minutes so it’s not nice for Alex to play 60, go off the next game and another (team-mate) comes in and then he can play 60 again. That’s not the way you want to start your career at Liverpool.
‘It is far, far from an ideal situation but, again, this club doesn’t buy a player for half a year. We bought him for six years. As a result of that, people are now coming with stats about his 12 games (two goals scored and a lack of touches).
‘We are living in a grown-up world and the life of a striker is always like this. I assume he also had spells in his career when he didn’t score for a few games in a row. If you do what Alex has done I don’t think it would influence your confidence that much.
‘But of course it is nicer for a number nine to start your career at a new club scoring immediately goal after goal. But that was so unrealistic straight away. I’ve tried to say it in my words without making it too obvious, but (this start is) almost something we could expect.
‘If a player starts in the middle of a season (he signed three games in) and his fitness level is not as high as the others and we have three games a week so there is hardly any time to train, it does take time for any player to get to the levels we want.
‘But I have no doubt that eventually he will become the player we signed him to be. Sometimes, like last week, he has already shown it.’
Asked if Isak, who was described as a ‘quiet man’ by team-mate Alexis Mac Allister last week, has a positive arrogance like Erling Haaland, for example, Slot added: ‘I don’t think you can compare the two of them in terms of presence.
‘One is, I don’t know how tall and big, and Alex is slimmer. But the Alexander Isak who scored so many goals for Newcastle and was then standing there when we played the League Cup final and I thought, “I would love to have him in my team” – he has presence.
‘Presence also comes with confidence and confidence comes with scoring a lot of goals and wins. He definitely has this presence, that’s what I felt and I think what our players felt when we played against him last season.’
Isak has started the last two games, scoring at West Ham, and is fit enough to do so again in the trip to Leeds on Saturday — though Slot has a decision to make over whether to play the Swede or Hugo Ekitike.
Conor Bradley should be back in the squad after missing the last three weeks with an injury suffered on international duty with Northern Ireland.
Read more- Will Alexander Isak, the £125m Swedish sensation, be Liverpool's ace in the sleeve this season or a benchwarmer due to fitness concerns?
- Will Alexander Isak's £125 million strike saga finally pay off as he insists he's fit and ready to shine for Liverpool?
- Will Alexander Isak’s renewed vigor deliver the goals Liverpool crave in their Anfield clash?
- Will Alexander Isak's mental toughness, forged through rocky career twists, be his ace card in a possible daring leap to Liverpool's lineup?
- Is Arne Slot's gamble on unfit Alexander Isak a ticking time bomb for Liverpool's success?