Alexander Isak is in the firing line as impact of going on strike at Newcastle United continues to be felt
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
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Alexander Isak's miserable run of form since leaving Newcastle United has seen football pundits split over how he should be handled by Liverpool boss Arne Slot.
The Swedish striker has seen his form plummet for both club and country after his £130million move to Anfield. The striker is yet to score in the Premier League for Liverpool and has also failed to net for Sweden as they look set to crash out of World Cup qualifying.
Isak's latest blank came on Sunday afternoon in the high-profile game against Manchester United. The striker started ahead of Hugo Ekitike but was replaced after 72 minutes, having missed a great opportunity in the first half and barely getting into the game.
The forward continues to look sluggish despite now having had several games to regain sharpness after he disrupted his own fitness by going on strike in pre-season with Newcastle.
It has prompted pundits to comment on what has gone wrong with the player, amid Liverpool fans calling for him to be dropped from the starting line-up with Ekitike tipped to replace him.
Former England striker Wayne Rooney agrees with that view. "I wouldn't play Isak, he hasn't looked ready since coming from Newcastle,” he said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
"He hasn't trained, hasn't had a pre-season. It's so important. While Newcastle were training he was probably sat at home on the phone to his agent for six hours a day trying to get a move.
"It's so difficult when you don't have a pre-season. He might've done stuff by himself but he's paying the price of it. On performances, he doesn't deserve to be playing ahead of Ekitike."
However, another former England great, Gary Lineker, disagrees with Rooney and believes that Liverpool should show more patience with Isak, given his disrupted pre-season.
“I would say that because of the length of time all of that debacle took place, he wouldn’t be as fit and as fresh so he’s playing catch-up,” Lineker argued on the The Rest Is Football.
“When you miss pre-season, it’s almost like an injured player coming back. So I would actually give him a little bit more time because he’s only played a handful of games.
"It’s almost like he’s going through pre-season during a real season. So I would give him a little bit of time on that front, and I think he’ll come good because he’s such a classy player.”
Fellow pundit Micah Richards was more critical of the striker, comparing his performances now to those that we saw when he was at Newcastle.
“Isak is the shadow of the player. This whole debacle of what happened in the summer, it’s showing. He’s not fit,” he said.
"Arne Slot said in the press conference before that now we’re going to see the real Isak because he looks like he’s going to be fit now. But the chance that he had in the game, if he’s at Newcastle, he tucks that away.”