Arne Slot has admitted he could pick Alexander Isak ahead of fitter and sharper team-mates as he tries to accelerate the £125million British-record signing’s impact at Liverpool.
The conundrum over how to coax the best from Isak continues for the Liverpool head coach who has suffered the twin blow of losing Florian Wirtz and Conor Bradley to injury during the international break.
Isak has managed only 429 minutes since his arrival from Newcastle United, who he did not kick a ball for this season as he effectively went on strike to secure his move, and was absent for the past five matches due to a groin injury.
The Sweden striker’s only goal for Liverpool came in a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Championship side Southampton at Anfield
LIVERPOOL FC VIA GETTY
In addition, he was restricted to a single, 28-minute cameo during the international break as Sweden opted to be cautious with the forward who was a booking away from a suspension in next March’s World Cup play-offs.
As a result, Isak is still searching for full fitness going into today’s Premier League game with Nottingham Forest but Slot is eager to include him.
“I do know that 100 per cent fit Alexander Isak is a big, big, big plus for this team,” Slot said. “But for him to get there, he might need to have minutes where you could argue that another player might be further ahead of him in terms of match fitness.
“He did one time a sprint above 30km/h in four months. He didn’t do a lot of high-intensity runs. So we had to build him up, which is normal, if you have been training on your own.
“I can see in training sessions, if he is fully rested, then you can see his quality. We play in short spaces, so the ball comes a lot to him. But 11 v 11 on a big pitch, there is a lot of running and not much touching the ball.
“It will still take a bit of time but he will end up being the player he was at Newcastle if we get him fit.”
Bradley is expected to be out for at least the next three weeks due to a muscle injury while Jeremie Frimpong is continuing his rehabilitation from a hamstring problem.
Bradley is set to miss at least three weeks after picking up an injury while on international duty…
CHARLES MCQUILLAN/GETTY IMAGES
But Alisson is poised to make his return after almost two months out
SERHAT CAGDAS/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES
Alisson should return in goal for the first time since September 30 having also experienced a spell on the sidelines due to hamstring issues.
Slot also discussed the comments made by Andy Robertson and the impact that the grief over Diogo Jota’s death has had on his team — but said they will never use it as an excuse for results.
After Scotland’s dramatic World Cup qualifying win over Denmark, captain Robertson said he was “in bits” before the game thinking about the Portugal international, who died in a car crash with his brother André Silva in July.
Robertson’s comments, in which he also said he was “in a bit of trouble” with the feelings he experienced alone in his hotel room before Scotland’s game, have put the issue of the players’ grief out in the open but Slot said the extent of the emotional cost was not something he was able to assess.
“I saw the interview as well and I know that it is an issue for us, which is completely normal,” Slot said. “I think it is good for us to remind [ourselves] of him every time possible because of the person and player he was. But it is impossible to measure what it does to the players and then to measure what it does to our results. The last thing I would do is use it as an excuse because I simply don’t know. What I do know is we miss the player, that is 100 per cent sure, and we also miss the person.”