Liverpool's Blunt Striker Repeats with Alexander Isak's Table

Isak is touted to strengthen Liverpool's front line in the 2025-2026 competition season. His presence is believed to enhance "The Reds'" attacking power in their mission to defend the English Premier League title. Moreover, several key players in Liverpool's attacking line have already been released by coach Arne Slot, including Luis Diaz.

The choice of Slot regarding Isak, of course, comes after observing his performance at Newcastle United. Over three seasons with "The Magpies," Isak has contributed 54 goals from 86 appearances. He has almost always been a starting player for Newcastle, and as compensation for that trust, Isak has delivered precise goals.

In the first match of the 2023-2024 season, for instance, Isak scored two goals in the match against Aston Villa on August 12, 2023, which ended with a score of 5-1. Not long after, on September 27, 2023, Isak scored the only goal against Manchester City in the League Cup (Carabao Cup) match. Besides being highly significant as it brought victory for "The Magpies," that goal also marked Newcastle's first win over City in their last 11 encounters.

Isak's productivity continued until the end of the season. On April 14, 2024, Isak scored two goals, marking his 16th and 17th goals of the season, in a match against Tottenham Hotspur, where Newcastle won decisively, 4-0. With a total of 17 goals in that season, Isak equaled the record of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another Swedish footballer who also scored 17 goals in a single season in the English Premier League.

The record was then broken when he scored two goals in the match on April 28 against Sheffield United, in a game that ended 5-1 at St James Park. Isak concluded the 2023-2024 season, his second season at Newcastle, as the top scorer with 21 goals, only behind Erling Haaland (Manchester City) and Cole Palmer (Chelsea). Haaland scored 27 goals and Palmer 22.

Isak's superiority in front of the opponent's goal, with his captivating dribbling, high scoring instinct, and lethal finishing, continued into the 2024-2025 season with a tally of 23 goals. His impressive performance is a continuation of his previous story, when from 2019 to 2021 he was part of Real Sociedad, contributing 33 goals from 105 matches.

The sharpness of Isak is what attracted Slot to recruit him to Anfield. His transfer fee? It is a staggering 125 million pounds, equivalent to 2.7 trillion rupiah. This transfer fee becomes the third most expensive after Neymar, who was recruited for 200 million pounds from Barcelona to Paris St Germain (PSG), and Kylian Mbappe from Monaco, also to PSG, for 165.7 million pounds.

The tendency for new Liverpool strikers to struggle is not a new phenomenon. Several other names that have excelled with their sharpness at previous clubs have found themselves blunt in Liverpool's front line. Take, for example, Andy Carroll, Christian Benteke, Mario Balotelli, and Darwin Nunez.

Just like Isak, Andy Carroll also made a significant impact while playing for Newcastle United. During his time with "The Magpies" from 2006 to 2011, Carroll scored 31 goals in 80 appearances. This impressive performance caught the attention of Liverpool, who signed the tall striker for a fee of £35 million, approximately Rp 760 billion. However, Carroll managed to contribute only six goals for "The Reds" in 44 matches during his time at Anfield from 2011 to 2013.

As for Christian Benteke, he initially shone at Aston Villa. During his time at Villa from 2012 to 2015, Benteke scored 42 goals for the club in 89 matches. Liverpool, astonished by Benteke's goal productivity and sharpness, recruited the Belgian footballer for a fee of £32.5 million (approximately Rp 711 billion). Similarly to Carroll, Benteke's total goal contribution was also below 10, with only nine goals from 29 matches.

Mario Balotelli? Before joining Liverpool, this temperamental player had already "wandered" through Inter Milan, Manchester City, and AC Milan. During his career at Milan, the controversial Balotelli recorded 26 goals in 43 matches. Unfortunately for Liverpool, in 16 appearances with "The Reds," Balotelli only contributed one goal. Yes, just one goal!

Darwin Nunez, during three seasons at Liverpool (2022-2025), scored 25 goals for "The Reds." For a player in the striker position, this productivity is certainly far from expectations. Moreover, he was previously recruited by Liverpool due to his sharpness at his former club, Benfica, where he scored 32 goals in 57 matches. Various criticisms have accompanied Nunez's performance, especially in his first season.

One of them is an article by Gary Rose in BBC Sport titled "Darwin Nunez: Are Liverpool Striker's Missed Chances A Blip or Cause for Concern?", published on December 30, 2022. Although they won 2-1 against Leicester City, several opportunities were recorded by Nunez that could have been utilized to extend the lead. The two goals for Liverpool were also due to an own goal by Wout Faes, a defender for Leicester.

Several golden opportunities for Nunez in the match arose in the second half. However, two of these chances resulted in shots that missed the target by a few centimeters. Meanwhile, one more opportunity saw the ball soar over the goal, despite being in an ideal position.

Why does the phenomenon of strikers underperforming at Liverpool continue to recur? From Carroll, Benteke, Balotelli, to Nunez, and now Isak? The factor of mental pressure seems crucial. The prestigious name of Liverpool appears to be waiting for the proof from the new stars who have just been recruited, especially those brought in with a hefty price tag like Isak.

Senior coach Carlo Ancelotti, in an article by Mike Carson titled "The Art of One-on-One," emphasizes the importance of a personalized approach, or heart-to-heart communication, by coaches with players, indicating that a coach's instructions are not sufficient merely through tactical explanations in front of the team. Instead, efforts must also be made through heart-to-heart dialogue.

For Ancelotti, football players are not just assets of the club, but more than that, they are also human beings. "Humans have emotions, priorities, beliefs, perspectives, and anxieties. Discovering these aspects alone can be a serious task. Addressing and managing them afterward is the next stage, which is not easy either," said Ancelotti, as written by Carson in the book "The Manager, Inside The Minds of Football's Leaders."

While coaching AC Milan, Ancelotti recounted that a top player at the elite Italian club once confided in him about having personal issues. The two then discussed to find a solution, which was eventually discovered. For Ancelotti, the player's willingness to share his problems with him was extremely important.

The issue of player relocation, whether it involves players moving clubs and thus changing their country of residence, or simply moving cities, such as Isak from Newcastle to Liverpool, is discussed in the book "Soccernomics" by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. However, even though this book was published in 2009, or 16 years ago, it seems that many clubs still do not regard this matter of relocation as an important issue.

Ivorian striker Didier Drogba recounted his experience of moving from Olympique Marseille in Marseille, France, to Chelsea in London, England. He wrote, "I found myself entangled in various issues related to my status as an expatriate worker. Chelsea was truly hands-off at that time."

No one from the club, wrote Kuper and Szymanski, could assist in finding schools for Drogba's children. What Chelsea did to help Drogba secure a home was merely to contact a real estate agent who then offered a house priced at 18 million US dollars or 300 billion rupiah.

Drogba, who likened his early days at Chelsea to "weeks that were very frustrating," ultimately had to turn upside down in search of a home after finishing training with Chelsea. Meanwhile, his wife and children had to stay in a hotel for quite some time.

Those who specialize in this type of work are referred to as relocation consultants. A female relocation consultant at a German club recounted, "I become the mother of the players, their caregiver, their real estate agent, their cleaner, everything for them. They have no cars, they cannot speak German." Does all this help the players perform better? "Definitely," replied the consultant.

Many factors influence a player's performance on the green field. In addition to technical and strategic aspects, mental matters, which are significantly affected by trivial issues including adaptation to a new city, prove to be very crucial. Any club that has just recruited a star player must ensure that the star feels comfortable in the club's home city.

If comfort has not yet been achieved, the impressive appearance that is hoped for may also not materialize. Will Isak continue to sob due to ongoing struggles, or will he soon become sharp? It is the management of Liverpool that must answer this, particularly coach Arne Slot.