Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf has slammed Alexander Isak despite the striker scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool
Alexander Isak of Liverpool during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool at London Stadium
Alexander Isak of Liverpool during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool at London Stadium
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Alexander Isak might have scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in Sunday’s win over West Ham United, but that has not spared him from criticism from one World Cup winner. The Sweden international opened the scoring for the Reds against the Hammers, as Arne Slot’s side ran out 2-0 winners.
The 26-year-old, who joined Liverpool in a British record £125m move from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day, has endured a slow start at Anfield following a disjointed summer with the Magpies.
The striker went on strike in a bid to force an exit, as he trained alone throughout the summer and did not feature for Newcastle during pre-season or the open weeks of the campaign prior to his move to Merseyside.
Left playing catch-up as a result, his only goal from his first 10 appearances for the Reds had come in the League Cup against Championship side Southampton.
Meanwhile, his progress was curtailed further as he sat out five games after suffering a groin injury against Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of October.
Isak struggled on his return from injury against Nottingham Forest as Liverpool fell to a shock 3-0 defeat at Anfield last weekend. But he managed to break his drought in Sunday’s win over West Ham in a livelier display as he finished well first-time from Cody Gakpo’s cutback.
Victory saw Liverpool climb to eighth in the table as they bounced back from successive heavy defeats to Man City, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven.
But despite Isak getting on the scoresheet and being more involved in the final third, former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf has called out the striker and slammed his performance as ‘appalling’ as he shared his sympathy for fellow Frenchman, Hugo Ekitike.
“Well even if Isak scored a goal, for one hour, he was appalling for me,” he said on ESPN. “If I am Ekitike, my fellow (French) compatriot, I must be very upset because when he came on, we saw the difference.
“His involvement, his technique, what he does for the team and the chances he can create. I would be very upset because, ‘Okay, my price tag is less than Isak but my performances are better.’
“So Isak scored. Yes, good. That saves his performance but that wasn’t enough. It was funny to see him being very surprised to be substituted. It was only fair to Ekitike.”
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Isak started in place of Ekitike against West Ham after the France international had suffered a back injury in Liverpool’s midweek defeat to PSV Eindhoven.
Speaking ahead of the trip to the London Stadium, Slot played down the severity of the issue but conceded it was touch and go whether Ekitike would be fit enough to feature against the Hammers.
While Leboeuf was critical of Isak, he did praise Liverpool’s improved defensive performance and was left impressed by Florian Wirtz following his own eye-catching display.
“I was happy to see Gomez back,” he said. “I thought the defence was better but it’s against West Ham so you don’t really know.
“Florian Wirtz is getting there. I’m pretty sure he will bring something. That guy has so much talent. You can see every time he touches the ball, something special is going to happen.
“One day, he is going to know how to play the Liverpool music and he is going to be very, very, very good.”