West Ham 0-2 Liverpool
Alexander Isak netted his first Premier League goal for Liverpool since his £125 million transfer.
Frank Leboeuf has claimed that Alexander Isak’s performance in Liverpool’s victory over West Ham United was ‘appalling’ despite breaking his Premier League goal duck.
Isak has endured a challenging start to his Liverpool career, having spent the majority of the pre-season alone at Newcastle United as he pursued a move to Anfield. As a result, he was well short of match fitness and subsequently suffered a groin injury.
In the first half against West Ham, Isak had two shots - one flew over the bar and the other was saved by goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. But he displayed his prowess in the final third when picked out by Cody Gakpo and found the back of the net in the second half.
What’s been said
Yet Leboeuf claimed that Isak’s goal masked his performance and Hugo Ekitike should be first-choice striker. Speaking on ESPN, 1998 World Cup winner Leboeuf said: “Even if Isak scored a goal, for one hour, he was appalling for me.
“If I am Ekitike, my [French] compatriot, I would be very upset because when he came on, we saw the difference. His involvement, his technique, the chances he can create for the team,; I would be very sad. OK, my price tag is less than Isak’s but my performances are better.
“OK, Isak scored. Good, it saves his performance but that wasn’t enough. It was funny to see him being surprised to be substituted. It was only fair to Ekitike. I was happy to see [Joe] Gomez back but it’s against West Ham so you don’t really know and Florian Wirtz, I’m pretty sure he will bring something. He has so much talent and every time he touches the ball, something is going to happen. One day, he is going to know how to play the Liverpool music and will be very good.”
What Slot said on Isak’s first Premier League goal
Isak bagged the second goal of his Liverpool career, having netted in a 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Southampton. Given the price tag that the Sweden international was signed for, he was unsurprisingly had plenty of scrutiny over his performances. However, Slot feels it has been unfair.
The Liverpool head coach said: “That's also a bit unfair to him because normally as a No.9, I think in general a No.9 plays more minutes than I've played Alex until now – because of the obvious reasons. So even today I had to take him off after 65, I think.
“So yes, he's already played quite a lot of games but in terms of minutes not so much. And it's very important for us as a team that we went 1-0 up, but I think it was also important for him because I think it was his third chance, fourth of this game, and I don't think there was much more than 10 minutes in him to go. So to score just before you come off was important for us but also for him.”
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