Alexander Isak’s first Liverpool season has been interrupted by injuries, but Sweden great Anders Limpar says the forward should not carry the blame for a difficult run at Anfield. Isak joined Liverpool from Newcastle United in a £125million British record transfer at the start of September, yet he has managed only 13 starts and nine substitute appearances while scoring four goals and setting up one more.
Limpar said Isak has not yet settled into Liverpool’s system and pointed to the timing of his arrival, after a move that came when the team was already struggling for form. He also said the forward suffered a serious leg injury shortly before Christmas at Tottenham Hotspur and then dealt with further minor muscle problems in recent weeks, which ruled him out of defeats at Manchester United and Aston Villa. “But I would like to see him stepping up,” Limpar said.
The comments land at a time when Liverpool are preparing to face Brentford at home in the Premier League finale this weekend, with Champions League qualification effectively secure unless a freak set of results denies them. For Isak, the match offers one more chance to show progress before attention turns toward Sweden, who reached the World Cup through the play-offs after finishing bottom of their qualifying group. The tournament is only weeks away, and the forward’s fitness now matters as much as his form.
Limpar argued the wider burden at Liverpool should not be placed on one newcomer, saying that if a side is already under pressure, the first name to be blamed is often the biggest signing. He said the problem is collective, not individual, and insisted it is unfair to single out Isak when the team, manager and staff are all part of the same slump. That is the tension around his season: Liverpool paid a record fee for a scorer, but injuries and the club’s own drop-off have meant they still have not seen him at full stretch.
What happens next is straightforward enough. Liverpool have one more league game to finish the domestic season, and Isak now needs a clean run to the summer if he is to arrive at the World Cup with momentum rather than more questions. For a player bought to make an instant difference, the final weeks before the tournament may decide whether this first chapter at Liverpool is remembered as a false start or a slow beginning.
