Isak at the Heart of Liverpool’s New Attack
Andoni Iraola knows exactly what Alexander Isak brings: goals. That part is not in doubt. What the Liverpool head coach wants now is something more subtle, and arguably more important, from his only fit centre-forward.
With Hugo Ekitike still sidelined after Achilles surgery and Mohamed Salah gone, the picture is brutally simple. Isak stands alone at the top of the pitch. He has to stay there.
Last season at Anfield never really got going for him. A broken leg at Tottenham just before Christmas wrecked his rhythm and reduced his debut campaign to 12 starts, 22 appearances and four goals. Only one of those came after that injury. For a striker of his pedigree, it felt like a false start.
This year, Iraola is determined to build something different.
Isak at the heart of Liverpool’s new attack
Isak’s partnership with Florian Wirtz could define Liverpool’s attacking identity under their new manager. Wirtz has been restored to his natural home as a No. 10 after being shunted around by former boss Arne Slot, and the space he finds will depend heavily on the Swede’s movement.
“Alex is going to be a very important player for us this season,” Iraola said. “Right now he is in a very good place; he has been training every day, he has not missed a session, he has been adding more and more minutes every friendly game.
“He played a very good World Cup in terms of availability, fitness level, and I want to keep him there as much as we can.
“We know his level and if we can keep him there he will score the goals and give us a lot of things.”
The goals are almost taken as a given. Iraola’s real “fight”, as he calls it, lies elsewhere.
“Probably my fight with him, my instructions, are more in terms of without the ball and how he can help in his position when we are with the ball so he can open spaces for other players.
“I am not trying to focus in terms of goals but he is a striker, he will want to score, but I try not to judge the strikers if they score or if they haven't.”
The message is clear: Isak must become the reference point for the whole front line, not just the finisher at the end of it.
Hostile return to Newcastle
If he needs extra motivation, it arrives on Sunday. Liverpool open their Premier League season at Newcastle, the club Isak left in acrimonious fashion last summer after effectively going on strike to force through his move to Anfield.
He will not be welcomed back gently.
Iraola, though, refused to fan the flames.
“I suppose it is always special when you play against your ex-team in their stadium — in the same way when I go back to Bournemouth you always want to do well,” he said.
“The first game of the season everyone will be very motivated and I think it is going to be the same for Alex.”
The backdrop may be hostile, the narrative sharp, but for Liverpool it is also a stark reminder of their reality: they are one injury away from a serious problem up front.
Thin ice behind the No. 9
With Ekitike unlikely to return before the new year and recruitment focused on wide players — Liverpool have already seen a second £60 million bid rejected for Brighton winger Yankubu Minteh — Iraola has to improvise a Plan B at centre-forward.
Cody Gakpo is the obvious candidate. He has operated as a central striker under Jurgen Klopp and could be asked to reprise that role if Isak needs a rest or cover.
“In pre-season we haven't tried as we don't have enough wingers and we prioritised what we need from him in his preferred position as a left-winger,” Iraola admitted.
“But I have been talking to him about his minutes as a nine; he has done it before and in certain situations he could help us in the nine position.”
So the season begins with Liverpool’s attack balanced on a single pillar. If Isak stays fit, links with Wirtz and adds the all-round game his manager demands, Iraola’s new era has a platform. If he doesn’t, the club’s entire forward plan gets stress-tested far earlier than anyone at Anfield would like.
