The difficult answer to Liverpool's shock Alexander Isak problem

The difficult answer to Liverpool's shock Alexander Isak problem

There's a difficult answer to Liverpool's surprise Alexander Isak problem. Can they actually fix it?

Alexander Isak is a problem for Liverpool. No one saw that coming when they spent £130m on him to end their summer transfer window.

But the Swede has been thus far unable to find his place at the club. At first, that was down to a lack of fitness brought about by a lack of pre-season before moving clubs.

The awful leg injury then robbed Isak of months right as he was just finding his feet. His return to the side has been marked by a problem, though, and it’s largely the same problem he faced before the injury: involvement.

Liverpool just can’t get Isak involved in their attack. He had just three touches of the ball on his 12-minute return against Paris Saint-Germain and then followed that with 12 touches in 21 minutes against Fulham.

But that latter number is now a massive outlier. 45 minutes at home to PSG brought five (5) touches on Isak’s first start since the injury. There were then nine (9) touches against Everton in 72 minutes.

So that was four minutes per touch at PSG, 1.75 vs Fulham, nine at home to PSG, and eight against Everton. Those last two figures are shocking - eight and nine minutes to get involved and then you won’t see another touch for eight or nine more minutes.

Liverpool broke the British transfer record for this player. And to be clear - this isn’t Isak’s fault. It’s not like he’s deliberately shying from the ball, instead it’s a case of his teammates not getting it to him.