Daniel Sturridge identifies Liverpool’s plan with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak but it isn’t working
Liverpool supporters had been hoping Alexander Isak had finally turned a corner after scoring his first Premier League goal of the season on Sunday.
The Swede buried a brilliantly instinctive first-time finish against West Ham and was given the chance to build on that with another start as Sunderland came to Anfield on Wednesday.
Any hope that Liverpool themselves had put their poor form behind them was short-lived, though, as they ambled out of the blocks against the Black Cats.
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Who was your Man of the Match against Sunderland?
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One again, the Reds simply could not get the ball to Isak. The No. 9 had only 11 touches during an all-too quiet first 45 minutes.
The question all season long for Arne Slot has been how to get the most out of his two £100m men, Isak and Florian Wirtz. On Wednesday, former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge noticed Slot trying out something new that simply did not work.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz front two doesn’t work
There are plenty of reasons why Isak has not been able to fully hit the ground running for Liverpool since his mammoth signing in the summer.
Perhaps the biggest of these is to do with shape. Liverpool are trying to fit him and Wirtz into an XI which didn’t look like it had room for them.
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READ MORE: Jamie Carragher says one thing still ‘doesn’t look right’ for Liverpool against Sunderland
Speaking to Sky Sports at half-time on Wednesday, Sturridge said Slot’s latest plan was to put the two new signings in a front two together.
“He’s been okay,” said the pundit when asked specifically about Wirtz. “I think he’s had the freedom. It looks like 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 and they’re leaving Isak and Wirtz to be the creative sources for the team.”
But according to Sturridge, the set-up simply never looked right. “The formation’s not right,” he said. “I don’t think it’s right personally. You can’t rely on Joe Gomez bombing on, it’s only his second game.”
How do Liverpool get Isak more involved?
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Alexander Isak touched the ball only 11 times in the first-half vs Sunderland
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Slot clearly thought so too, bringing Mohamed Salah on at half-time and shifting Wirtz to the left wing, with Isak continuing through the middle.
Liverpool still looking for Isak answer
The question of how to fit Isak into this Liverpool side does not feel as though it should have been so hard for Slot to solve this season.
A lack of match fitness has not helped the Sweden international, clearly, but the issues right now look tactical, not injury related.
The clash with Sunderland was yet another game in which Liverpool failed to find the answers for themselves.
The effort is obviously there, but for whatever reason the Reds look incapable of making Isak the focal point of the team.
If they feed him you feel the former Newcastle man will fire, but Liverpool are not doing that right now. Playing Wirtz up alongside him simply made Isak look more isolated. Another one to cross off the list.
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