Alexander Isak’s Liverpool career has lasted 382 minutes.
In that time, he has touched the ball 105 times, had 11 shots (five on target) and scored one goal — the opener of a 2-1 win against Championship club Southampton in round three of the Carabao Cup a month ago.
Statistics never tell the whole story but these are not the numbers Liverpool were expecting when they broke the British transfer record to sign him from Newcastle United for £125million ($167.6m at the current rate) on deadline day at the start of September.
Scrutiny on Isak is cranking up as the reigning Premier League champions’ faltering early-season form continues, with Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat against arch-rivals Manchester United the club’s fourth in a row in all competitions. They are already four points behind league leaders Arsenal after eight of their 38 top-flight matches.
Isak is not giving the impression of a man who is panicking, though.
In his three seasons with Newcastle, he was considered a complex character that even team-mates found hard to read: someone who was clearly intensely driven in his desire to reach his potential — a point underlined by how he was prepared to effectively go on strike to force his Liverpool move in the first place — but also strikingly laid-back.
Isak’s training session with Sweden on September 2 was his first team practice in weeks (Jonathan Nackstrand//AFP via Getty Images)
The consensus was that Isak often needed provocation to be sparked into life.
One such moment came after a game at Fulham early last season. Newcastle had lost 3-1, with Isak once again a peripheral figure (his blank that day meant he had scored just once in the first six games), and head coach Eddie Howe decided he needed to intervene. He offered Isak some home truths about what he expected from someone of his status and ability, and delivered a detailed presentation about where and how he wanted him to move on the field.
The pep talk worked: Isak scored 27 times in his remaining 36 appearances of the campaign, form which ultimately convinced Liverpool to launch their summer move for him.
There is nothing to suggest that Arne Slot, the Liverpool head coach, is contemplating a similar intervention to Howe’s just over a year ago. Liverpool’s staff feel he has settled well at the club — captain Virgil van Dijk, an admirer of the striker when they were on opposing teams, has been particularly supportive in terms of offering advice — and now just needs time for on-field relationships to develop. Neither has Isak given any indication that he letting his transfer fee weigh on his shoulders.
But it is clear that things are simply not gelling for the 26-year-old Swede at his new club.
Even before the United defeat, Slot was keen to reiterate that their top summer target had been signed for six years, not six weeks. But while Isak’s poor form is not the major reason why Liverpool have found themselves in their current predicament, the fact they are still waiting for him to click is a worry.
So, what are the issues behind this slow start — and how can Isak rediscover his swagger?
Lack of rhythm
This is, to a large extent, a self-inflicted problem.
Isak may have ultimately got the move he wanted by asking not to be part of Newcastle’s pre-season preparations — he did not go on the club’s three-game tour to Singapore and South Korea, or play in any of their four friendlies in the UK, or their opening three Premier League fixtures — but it has come at a cost.
Individual training, first at his previous club Real Sociedad in Spain and then on Tyneside, as he waited to see if his move would be completed before the transfer window shut was no substitute for practising along his team-mates or taking part in matches, and left him effectively playing catch-up when he did arrive at Anfield.
Liverpool accepted Isak would need time to get up to speed — although, in truth, they had little choice. After a brief first appearance of the season as a substitute for Sweden in a World Cup qualifier against Kosovo, they slowly integrated him by gradually building up his workload until he made his debut against Atletico Madrid on September 17, 16 days after he signed for them.
The fact he had to play his way to match fitness during competitive games, rather than pre-season warm-up ones, was hardly ideal, but Slot has no physical concerns about Isak now that process is complete. There are no reported injuries, no sense he is struggling to finish matches due to a lack of stamina.
“Now he has had his five, six weeks of ‘pre-season’, which is normal for every player, especially if you have been out for three or four months,” Slot told reporters last Friday. “Fitness-wise, he is close to the level he should be and we can judge him in a fair way from now on.”
Arne Slot has staggered Isak’s introduction at Liverpool (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
These barren runs are not common for Isak. When he missed games through injury for Newcastle, he typically rediscovered his groove within a few weeks.
There were exceptions: in January 2023, he returned after being out since the previous September with a hamstring injury and scored only once in his first 10 games back; then there was that run at the start of last season which triggered those talks with Howe.
But, in general, Isak’s droughts are short-lived, and normally punctuated by early-season goals for Sweden. This year, even that arena has been fruitless.
Finishing
When Ibrahima Konate released Isak in behind during the first half against United, it felt like the perfect chance to ignite his Liverpool career.
The ball was perfect, Isak’s run was well timed but, when one-on-one against Senne Lammens, the shot was too close to the goalkeeper, who saved with his legs.
It was the best chance Isak has had in the Premier League since he arrived at Anfield and one that should be a routine finish for a player of his calibre.
What stood out was that it is a position Liverpool have struggled to get him into in his other games.
The only similar one he has had was shortly after coming off the bench against Galatasaray in the Champions League on September 30, when he was released in behind by Florian Wirtz. Isak showed his pace and power to get to the pass first, but then took the shot on first time, which resulted in a tame effort.
Isak’s Liverpool shot map shows that he is suffering on two counts: first, he is not getting many opportunities; and second, those he is getting are not high-quality ones. His expected goals figure for Liverpool so far is just 1.7.
The biggest problem is that, aside from the efficient finish against Southampton when Federico Chiesa put it on a plate for him…
… he is lacking the clinical edge that helped him become one of the best strikers in Europe.
A slick one-two with Alexis Mac Allister released him into the box against Crystal Palace four days on from that Carabao Cup victory.
After some neat footwork, he has only goalkeeper Dean Henderson to beat but can only flash wide of the post. It is not a simple opportunity but a peak-form Isak probably curls that shot into the far corner.
The Swede has also had two decent headed opportunities he has been unable to put away.
His movement has been impressive, peeling off his marker on both occasions, but that day at Palace he headed over from Curtis Jones’ cross…
… and did the same when Mohamed Salah found him in the box away to Chelsea a week later.
It was a similar story for him during the recent international break. In games against Switzerland and Kosovo, he had chances but failed to convert any, and Sweden lost both without scoring and are now facing a battle to qualify for next year’s World Cup.
Isak is getting opportunities in a variety of ways, it is the volume and quality of them which need to be better.
As relationships with new team-mates grow, this should improve in the long-term, and for a player of his finishing capabilities, it is difficult to see how he doesn’t start finding the net eventually.
Service
Not all Isak’s issues are down to him, however.
He struggled to impact the game against United but was not helped by a desperate lack of service, where centre-back Konate’s incisive through-ball stood out as a notable exception.
Most of Isak’s work on Sunday came in the right channel as he drifted to that side with Mac Allister pushed further forward on the left. As the graphic below shows, he repeatedly received the ball in deeper areas with his back to goal, and that has been a theme during his recent starts.
Liverpool conceding from the opposition’s first shot in each of their past three league games is not helping Isak’s cause, with teams then able to stay in a defensive shape without needing to take risks.
It has left Isak battling against low blocks and with the under-performance of team-mates, there is a lack of service being provided to him. Salah and Cody Gakpo are more goalscoring wingers than creators, even allowing for the Egyptian’s spike in assists over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.
No 9s in Slot’s system have not often been prolific. Luis Diaz scored most of his goals last season from the left wing, while neither Diogo Jota or Darwin Nunez flourished in front of goal last term. Hugo Ekitike has been the most productive in the early weeks of this season, scoring five goals in 11 appearances, but he is the exception.
As the examples in the previous section shows, there are the shoots of relationships building on the pitch, and often it has been the execution which has been the problem.
Here, against Atletico, Isak drops deep to receive a pass from Jeremie Frimpong. He plays it to Salah and then appears to have got the run on the defender to get in behind. However, Salah’s pass is poor and the attack ends.
The most natural relationship Isak appears to have formed is with fellow newcomer Wirtz, the previous holder of the British transfer record following his move from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial £100million, potentially rising to £116m with add-ons.
The pair started as the No 9 and No 10 against Atletico and while neither registered a goal or an assist in Liverpool’s 3-2 win, they combined on a number of occasions.
Wirtz twice found Isak in the area which led to shooting opportunities for the latter.
He hit the first one wide…
… and the second straight at the goalkeeper.
They also linked up for a chance that Wirtz was unable to convert.
They have only started once together since — when the German was selected on the left of the front three against Palace — with Wirtz dropped to the bench against Chelsea and United.
Liverpool’s structural flaws are not allowing them to control games in the way they did last season. That always makes it more difficult for a striker to be constantly involved in the game as they are relying on those behind them to gain territory.
But Isak’s lack of sharpness is not helping and there remains a disconnect between him and his colleagues.
Liverpool’s wider issues
In theory, Isak’s move to the champions from the club who finished fifth last season looked to be an upgrade for all concerned. But that was perhaps a simplistic view which overlooked the strength of his connections at Newcastle.
Take Jacob Murphy. The Newcastle winger knew exactly what made Isak tick: last season he supplied him with seven Premier League assists, mostly from quick, consistent crosses into the box, as the pair developed the most prolific partnership in the division.
At Liverpool, there simply isn’t that level of cohesion — not yet, at least. Isak has entered a dressing room with some strong characters, all of whom are either trying to justify their own significant price tags (Wirtz and Ekitike), prove that they are still the drama’s main character (Salah, who has retained penalty duties despite Isak’s arrival) or that they deserve to stay in the team having helped win last season’s title (Gakpo). Even Chiesa is now staking a claim for more minutes in attack after being very much a fringe player in his 2024-25 debut campaign.
The large amount of changes to the structure, including two new full-backs and heavy rotation at the No 10 position, is another contributing factor.
Slot tried to find some rhythm by starting with the same team in the two most recent Premier League games, but the plan quickly went out the window when Liverpool fell behind on each occasion and were left desperately trying to recover.
If it all feels quite messy, that’s because it is.
Isak is a high-profile casualty of the sense of flux at Anfield but he will also be expected to restore order sooner rather than later.
