Arne Slot Manager
**
Liverpool manager Arne Slot remains optimistic about Alexander Isak’s ability to replicate his impressive form from Newcastle United, despite the striker’s challenging start at Anfield. Isak, who made a British record £125 million transfer to Liverpool on deadline day in September, has scored only one goal in eight appearances. The 26-year-old has struggled with fitness, having missed a full pre-season after being sidelined from Newcastle’s first-team squad during the summer.
Arne Slot said: “That is the challenge and it is underestimated so much if you bring a player in on September 1, when the league has already three weeks in. I do know that a 100% fit Alexander Isak is a big, big, big plus for this team. But for him to get there, he might need to have minutes where you could argue that another player might further ahead of him in terms of match fitness. He did one time a sprint above 30km/h in four months. He didn’t do a lot of high intensity runs. So we had to build him up, which is normal if you have been training on your own. If you then get an injury, you are thrown back again. So give him time. The problem is, I play a player – and I have done this with others – who is not 100% of their usual match fitness. But then I cannot play friendlies. You can do that in pre-season because you don’t care about the results. But Alex and (Alexis) Mac Allister are the best examples of that. Conor Bradley got injured in pre-season. Ah, I could go on and on. That is the challenge with him. I can see in training sessions, if he is fully rested, then you can see his quality. But 11 v 11 on a big pitch, there is a lot of running and not much touching the ball. He is an incredible player.”
Slot acknowledged that Isak’s recent international duty provided limited opportunities to regain sharpness. The Swedish forward was restricted to a 28-minute appearance, with national team manager Graham Potter cautious about risking him ahead of the World Cup qualifying play-offs in March.
Slot added: “He did this after he played 45 minutes against Southampton (in the League Cup in September). We did some running. People asked why did we do this but it is to build him up. If he plays a game, he has to do more accels and decels. If he does some running, you can give him a bigger tank. This morning, I had a conversation with the performance staff: ‘What is the best way for him – not for Liverpool – to get him as fast as we can to that 100%?’. I always have to find the balance between what is the best for him as an individual and for us as a team.”
In addition to Isak’s fitness concerns, Liverpool faces a selection headache at right-back. Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are sidelined for three weeks due to muscle problems. This leaves Joe Gomez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Curtis Jones as potential options to fill the void in the upcoming fixtures. This situation presents a tactical challenge for Slot, who must navigate these injuries while maintaining the team’s competitive edge in the Premier League.
About The Author
