Jamie Carragher has dismissed Arne Slot’s suggestion that Alexander Isak has struggled this season due to a lack of summer preparation.
The Swede endured a chaotic summer while still at Newcastle United and was essentially frozen out of the first-team picture by Eddie Howe, as Isak pushed to complete a transfer to Liverpool - having told the club he wouldn't play again.
It meant he arrived lacking fitness when his deadline-day move was completed, and Slot had to slowly introduce the 26-year-old over several weeks. Isak was declared fully fit after the October international break, only for the striker to suffer a groin injury in the win over Eintracht Frankfurt a few days later, which kept him out for five matches.
Having returned in the 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest, Isak has featured in the last three matches and scored his first Premier League goal for the club in Sunday’s win over West Ham United.
But Slot has continued to reference Isak’s lack of a pre-season in recent weeks when asked about the Reds’ no.9, something which has clearly irked Carragher
“How long can you keep saying he had no pre-season? Too much is made of it,” the former defender said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher speaking on the Stick to Football podcast
Carragher feels Liverpool is using Isak's fitness issues as an excuse
“I did a whole pre-season and broke my leg in September, so I was out for four months.
“When I got back fit, I didn’t do a pre-season – I did a few weeks of training, played in a reserve game, and then I was back into it. I had longer off with my injury than I had in the summer.
“Of course, you need pre-season and to build your fitness – I get all that – but anyone who gets an injury during the season doesn’t get a pre-season before he comes back. It gives people too much of an excuse.”
Alexander Isak celebrates scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool.
Isak scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool on Sunday (Image: Getty Images)
Isak is yet to complete 90 minutes since signing from Newcastle, and Slot said in Tuesday’s press conference ahead of the Sunderland game that he is still not up to full speed.
"For Alex to score his first [Premier League] goal was also very positive. Also a player who could not have played five to 10 minutes more [against West Ham] than he played because he told me yesterday that he felt a little bit of cramp coming up already.
“He’s another player we should see how he does when he trains today.”
Meanwhile, Slot has referenced the impact of a disjointed pre-season when discussing the fitness issues of Alexis Mac Allister and Conor Bradley this term, while Joe Gomez has been used sparingly after missing the majority of Liverpool’s summer preparations.