Goals first, everything else second: our case for Alexander Isak
Every few weeks a fresh complaint about Alexander Isak does the rounds. He floats out of games. He does not touch the ball enough. He is not involved in the build-up the way some fans would like. Our view is simple. A centre-forward is paid to put the ball in the net, and Liverpool’s number nine is doing exactly that at a rate very few in the country can match.
It helps when a man who knows the job better than almost anyone agrees. Ian Rush, the club’s all-time record scorer, told BBC Sport that the talk about Isak’s lack of involvement misses the bigger picture. In Rush’s eyes, finding the net is the toughest skill in the sport, and he pointed out that only Erling Haaland is ahead of the Swede right now.
The numbers do the arguing
Haaland sits on nine Premier League goals. Isak has seven, and he has played a game less. That puts our striker right in the thick of the Golden Boot race. Not bad for someone supposedly having a quiet time of it.
Read more: Craig’s Column: Bradley Barcola Is Being Judged Far Too Quickly At Liverpool
The attack around him is also still a work in progress. Cody Gakpo and Bradley Barcola are learning his movements and he is learning theirs, and as a trio they have looked efficient rather than fluent. Despite that, Isak keeps turning up at the decisive moment, and that is exactly what you want while the rest of the jigsaw is assembled.
A body that is finally holding up
Our take is that fitness explains a lot of this. Last season was miserable for him on that front. Adductor problems and a fractured fibula restricted him to 1,032 minutes across all competitions, yielding four goals and a single assist, in what turned out to be Arne Slot’s final campaign in charge before he left in May 2026.
Under Andoni Iraola the story could hardly be more different. Isak already has eight goals and one assist from 899 minutes in all competitions this term. Sharpness comes from playing, not rehab, and a run of starts has given him the timing he lacked a year ago.
Let the critics keep talking
Some supporters will always want a forward who presses every ball and links every move. That is a fair wish, but it is a secondary one. As long as Isak keeps finishing chances at this rate, the grumbles about his overall contribution feel more like style points than real concerns. Goals end debates, and right now he is ending plenty of them for Liverpool.