Liverpool icon makes Alexander Isak admission as £450m new assault ‘but to click on’
Liverpool icon John Aldridge has slammed Alexander Isak – and admitted he has to change as Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz are sent a wake-up call.
The Reds struggled going forward against Fulham on Saturday afternoon, as the Reds limped to a single point in a goalless draw and lost ground to Arsenal and Manchester City. That’s despite fielding British record transfer Isak, £125m, the previous man to hold that record, £116m Wirtz, new £123m winger Barcola and Cody Gakpo – who nearly moved to City for £85m this summer. “It’s not clicked. It’s not clicked yet, the attack,” Aldridge said in his column for the Liverpool Echo.
“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.
Alexander Isak is at the heart of the new-look Liverpool attack
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“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!”
Bradley Barcola needs time to adapt in England
However, Aldridge admitted it’s not the Frenchman’s fault that Liverpool shelled out £123million – and the same point stands for Isak and Wirtz.
Instead, he preached to give them time, as he told the Liverpool Echo: “Even though at this moment in time, we want things to happen straight away, because that’s the way it is in football.”
He added: “Look, the French league is average, with all due respect. It’s crap 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!”
John Aldridge was writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo(Image: Getty)
And the Liverpool icon had spotted one thing about Isak’s game he needs to change during the 0-0 draw with Fulham. Aldridge pointed out that Isak keeps on drifting out wide – leaving a gap up top for Iraola’s side.
“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.”
