A Premier League great has leapt to the defence of Alexander Isak as he called concerns about the Liverpool striker’s form since making a British record transfer last summer ‘clickbait’.
Andy, who starred for Newcastle like Isak before earning a blockbuster move to Manchester United, is the fifth-highest goalscorer in Premier League history, with 187 goals. And he is still firmly in the strikers’ union because he snapped back at those who have criticised the Swedish forward over the past year.
Isak joined Liverpool in a British record £125million switch just over 12 months ago, but his debut season was rocked by miserable form and then a serious leg break suffered while scoring away against Tottenham last December.
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The 26-year-old, who arrived at Anfield short on fitness after going on strike during pre-season to force a move away from Newcastle, managed just three goals in 16 matches before he was sidelined in late December for three-and-a-half months with a broken fibula.
However, Isak has started this campaign on the right foot. After a miserable opening day in a 2-2 draw against his former club at St James’ Park, he bounced back by netting three goals in two games against Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town, with an equaliser in a 2-2 draw and then a brace in a 2-0 victory.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport, via Unibet Casino, Cole argued that despite Isak being available for the first half of last season, fans have no right to criticise his performances for the Reds so far.
“I wouldn’t say it hasn’t worked, he was injured,” Cole said. “So if you’re injured, obviously you’ve got to get yourself back on your feet, you’ve got to get fit again.
“You’re playing in a totally different team, playing a totally different way. And I would never sit here and say it’s not worked.
“It’s easy for people to say it’s not working because if you’ve not been in that position, you never know if it’s working or not working.
“So everyone can jump on a bandwagon when things are not going well for certain players and say, oh, ‘it’s this, it’s that,’ or whatever, but you don’t know because you’re not in that position.
“I get older and I listen to a lot of people talk and fans talk and whatever, I do actually say to myself, well, I don’t know if you’re any good at your job. No?
“But everyone’s prepared to pass judgement on players or whatever, but are you good at what you do? Who knows? Because we never see that.
“So I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘oh, it’s not worked, that. I mean, I’ll be a p**** if I ever said that, because I’ve been in that position whereby it’s been tough, the tough injuries, and you want to get yourself back to form as soon as possible.
“So I’m not that guy to be saying, ‘oh, it’s not worked that’, no, I’m not that guy. And I just think when people come out with comments like that, I just think it’s very disrespectful.
“You know what, it’s clickbait. That’s what it is.”
Isak’s brace against Ipswich has left Cole hoping the big Swede is now back on course to finding his best form that made him so revered at Newcastle.
He added: “Yeah, I’m hoping so. As an individual, I don’t want to see any individual players struggle because we all go through peaks and troughs in football. You never want to see anyone go through a bad spell, but in football it happens.
“For Isak, getting the two goals against Ipswich, he got a goal the week before. I hope that his form turns around now, he starts to believe in himself again and starts scoring goals.
“I mean, that’s on a personal level. Yeah, I get it, he plays for Liverpool. I totally understand that, but on a personal level, I never want to see any player struggle, because I know what it feels like to go through a tough spell in your career.
“Coming back from injuries or whatever it may be, or listening to all the experts tell you how good you are or how bad you are, when no one actually knows what’s going on.”