**When Arne Slot took over at Liverpool, I genuinely thought we'd be in for a new era now that the moaning, insufferable Jurgen Klopp was off the scene, but it seems they must pump something through the vents in the manager's office down there.**
Alexander Isak's failure to live up to his £125 million price tag seems to be everybody's fault but his own, according to Arne Slot. Every week, he has a new excuse for his misfiring forward, and not once has he blamed the striker for refusing to train and putting his season back by months.
Instead, the Liverpool boss recently took aim at Newcastle United's training facilities, which is rich, because, and I'll say this nice and loudly - ALEXANDER ISAK WASN'T BLOODY USING THEM THIS SUMMER!
Isak's struggles this season are all his own doing, and Slot's constant digs at Newcastle really need to stop. He knew what he was buying into; he's got nobody to blame but himself and the striker himself.
"See them white sticks with the net on the back? Put the round thing in there!"
Arne Slot has already learned how to be a professional victim
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Slot was asked about Isak's preparations for the season and his current fitness in his recent press conference (h/t [The Mirror](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/eddie-howe-newcastle-liverpool-slot-36125416)), and he chose to aim a dig at Newcastle.
> "I don’t think there’s a rule that every single player has the same. But it also depends on what he did when he didn’t train with the team, what the impact is if you go to a new club as a big signing. So you cannot compare, maybe a player who hasn’t trained or played in pre-season at a smaller club than if you go to Liverpool."
If Newcastle weren't also competing in Europe, specifically the Champions League, then maybe, just maybe, he could make that comparison, but if Isak had stayed at Newcastle, he'd still have had to have been training to play three times a week. Liverpool isn't special in that sense.
Eddie Howe is all class
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When asked about Slot's comments on Friday during his press conference, Eddie Howe refused to take the bait and defended the club's facilities, while refusing to bite at the 'smaller club' jibe.
> "I don't think it is wise for me to get involved in those discussions. Alex is no longer at this football club. It is best to stay away from it."The set-up is here is very good. It is not perfect, there are things to improve and grow. The owners here have developed the facilities and you can see there is building work going on."Hopefully that will help us be even better in the future. But I have no complaints, we have elite athletes here, many of them, touch wood they are managing pretty well."
And when asked about the size of the club and whether he needed to go into bat for the supporters after Slot's remarks, Howe calmly stated: "I don't feel I have to do that."