Alexander Isak has been told how to score more at Liverpool
Liverpool legend John Aldridge has told three Reds players they must improve, specifically telling Alexander Isak how he can “score more goals.”
Liverpool have won just once in four Premier League games this season, though they got off to winning starts in the Champions League and League Cup. They beat Atletico Madrid in Europe and fellow big-six club Tottenham in the English competition.
The Reds have not struggled much going forwards, scoring at least two goals in all but one game this season.
But they’ve not had an awful lot out of some of their attacking assets. Florian Wirtz has assisted one goal and £123million summer signing Bradley Barcola is yet to score or assist in three games.
While last season’s mega signing Isak has already matched his tally of three Premier League goals from an injury-hit debut season, Aldridge picked him and the aforementioned pair out as players who need to click.
On the former pair, the Liverpool legend told Liverpool Echo: “It’s not clicked yet, the attack.
“But what does Andoni Iraola do? Change system? Well, he can’t, he won’t because he’s always coached in this system that he likes. He’s got to fit the players in. It’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle. Putting it together. The pieces didn’t fit from last year.
“On paper when we got them, we were going, ‘Wow! Great buys’. And they are. Look, Alexander Isak’s a fantastic finisher. He’s a really good finisher.
“Florian Wirtz is a really good player, but it’s not the Bundesliga. He’s still trying to find his feet and things haven’t gone for him. He hasn’t had the best of luck.
“Bradley Barcola has only just started, we’ve got to give him time. He can play, of course he can. Once teams know how you play, they do their utmost to stop you!
“Even though at this moment in time, we want things to happen straight away, because that’s the way it is in football.”
“Look, the French league is average, with all due respect. It’s cr*p compared to the Premier League. You’ve got Paris Saint-Germain and that’s it. He’s going to another level. He’s played in Europe.
“He knows the score against really good teams, but the Premier League is tough. It’s the best league in the world. That’s why they pay the fees that they do for television. Don’t expect him to win his games on his own just yet. It’d be nice if he does, though. I’ll say that. But we have to be patient with him!”
Alexander Isak told how to score more goals
Aldridge has told Isak, after three goals in four Premier League games, how to score more.
He said: “If he goes out wide looking to put balls into the box, there’s going to be no-one in there. He has to be moving people a bit more. I’m not being overly critical of him. He’s got to work the centre-halves more by movement.
“Taking them where they don’t want to go and keeping them moving, because that’s when he’ll get that little half-chance to get his goal. He’s got to move more in between the 18-yard box width, for me. He is a good finisher.
“If he does that, and gets to the back post when the ball’s coming in, he’ll score more goals. Like we saw Haaland score in the Manchester derby. That’s not rocket science.
“In my opinion, he needs to move more, move the centre-halves about and take them where they don’t want to go to create space for himself and the chances will follow.
“They’ve got to persevere and Iraola has got to make it happen. Otherwise, he’s going to have to change the jigsaw again next year. But that’s drastic.
“They’ve just got to keep on working, keep on working away and hopefully, something clicks. Rotate but rotate the right way.”
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