One Liverpool player was criticised for his ‘completely anonymous’ performance as the Reds were thrashed 3-0 at home by Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Arne Slot’s team fell to a sixth Premier League defeat of the season (50% more than they had in all of last term) as the Garibaldi – 19th in the table before kick-off – came to Anfield and cruised to what Wayne Rooney described as a ‘comfortable’ victory.
Prior to today, Alexander Isak had scored in each of his four previous top-flight fixtures against the City Ground outfit, but the Swedish striker didn’t come close to maintaining that record.
Isak slammed for ‘anonymous’ display in Liverpool defeat
Restored to the starting XI by Arne Slot, the 26-year-old was called ashore midway through the second half as the Liverpool head coach desperately sought to instigate a turnaround from the champions.
Laura Hunter was providing updates for Sky Sports‘ live web commentary, and when Isak was substituted in the 68th minute, she posted: “Robertson and Chiesa being readied. Isak’s afternoon is over. He’s been completely anonymous again.”
Isak fluffed his opportunity to make a statement today
Having been given the nod to start over Hugo Ekitike today, there was an ideal opportunity for Liverpool’s club-record £125m signing to make a statement to Slot and the wider footballing world. Sadly, he made the case for the Frenchman to be recalled for the PSV Eindhoven game on Wednesday night.
Ian Doyle gave the Swede a lowly 4/10 in his post-match player ratings for the Liverpool Echo, noting that the 26-year-old ‘touched the ball once in the opening quarter’ of the match and politely stating that his performance was ‘not great’.
The statistics from today’s match paint a bleak pictur for our number 9. As per Sofascore, he lost every single one of the seven duels that he contested, completed a pitiful six passes in 68 minutes on the pitch (out of eight attempted), failed to get a shot on target and touched the ball only 15 times.
Isak hasn’t been helped by his disrupted pre-season and a subsequent groin injury, but this afternoon he (like Liverpool in general) was simply nowhere near the level we’d expect from a player of his quality.
Obviously it’d be ridiculous to write him off as a flop so early into his Anfield career, but the Swede needs a big performance soon to dispel some of the inevitable scrutiny that this subdued showing will invite.
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