{"id":84506,"date":"2025-08-22T07:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T07:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/84506\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T07:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T07:44:09","slug":"alexander-isak-has-badly-let-down-newcastle-expect-wild-crowd-vs-liverpool-liverpool-fc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/84506\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Isak has \u201cbadly let down\u201d Newcastle – expect “wild” crowd vs. Liverpool – Liverpool FC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newcastle<\/a> fans are predicting a \u201craucous\u201d St James\u2019 Park atmosphere, with Alexander Isak\u2019s future dominating the lead-up to Liverpool\u2019s trip.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say that relations between the two clubs have been better!<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s pursuit of Isak has been headline news, with the Swede training away from his teammates as he demands a summer exit to Anfield.<\/p>\n

Newcastle<\/a> remain adamant that their striker is going nowhere, but for now, attention has to turn to on-pitch matters.<\/p>\n

Liverpool head to St James\u2019 for a potentially ferocious meeting on Monday, which promises to be a big test for Arne Slot<\/a>\u2018s champions.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the game, This Is Anfield\u2019s Henry Jackson spoke to Newcastle<\/a> fan and writer Dave Black (@cm9798<\/a>) to discuss the Isak saga, Monday\u2019s match and more.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

How\u2019s the positivity at Newcastle after the opening weekend?<\/p>\n

A bit of a mixed bag.<\/p>\n

We were very good away at Aston Villa<\/a> \u2013 I think a lot of fans were fearing the worst after taking a beating there in April, plus the general uncertainty around the club at the moment.<\/p>\n

But we had the better of the game and would probably have won with a striker\u2026Alexander Isak or otherwise!<\/p>\n

There is a nervousness that there are only 10 days of the window to go, and our only senior striker is effectively on strike from playing.<\/p>\n

Despite our best efforts, no new striker has come in. <\/p>\n

It does feel like the final piece of a pretty good jigsaw, given that the rest of the dealings have significantly improved the squad.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your take on the Isak situation, in terms of how you feel about him?<\/p>\n

\"File<\/p>\n

I feel very badly let down by him. <\/p>\n

Clubs bid for players all the time, but I feel like he has taken the nuclear option very quickly and backed himself into a corner. <\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know the truth of what he was promised or not, but what we do know is that he was seemingly quite happy at the start of July.<\/p>\n

We signed Anthony Elanga, a friend and international teammate of his, but then Liverpool bid and then he wasn\u2019t happy anymore. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t necessarily think any blame lies with Liverpool there, but I don\u2019t think I am alone in thinking there is more to it than that. <\/p>\n

You only have to look at Eberechi Eze and Illia Zabarnyi, who played full pre-seasons for their clubs with deals bubbling away in the background. <\/p>\n

They were professional to the very end, and had Isak done that, I think it was more likely he would be sold.<\/p>\n

But the way he has acted hasn\u2019t helped anybody \u2013 Liverpool included, in my opinion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you think he will stay or leave this summer?<\/p>\n

\"Alexander<\/p>\n

I think he will stay, unwillingly. <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t see Liverpool bidding the asking price now, and it\u2019s almost become a point of principle for the owners. <\/p>\n

Had Isak done this in May, we would have had a lot more of the window to sort out a suitable replacement, but the stance seems to be, \u201cwhy should we sell a player and replace him with somebody lesser?\u201d <\/p>\n

We aren\u2019t under any pressure to sell financially, and he has a contract. <\/p>\n

What happens if he is a Newcastle<\/a> player after September 1 is anybody\u2019s guess, but I suspect he will be slowly reintegrated, even though that seems impossible right now.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to Monday, what kind of atmosphere are you expecting?<\/p>\n

\"NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE,<\/p>\n

Raucous. It\u2019s a bank holiday, so both sets of fans will likely be well-oiled.<\/p>\n

There is a disdain for the way Liverpool are perceived to have acted through all this, but again, factually, all we know is they have placed a bid and Newcastle<\/a> rejected it. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s been some \u201cbanter\u201d on social media between the two sets of fans, but I find all of that quite tedious. <\/p>\n

It is a big game, regardless, and add in the bank holiday and the Isak situation, and I\u2019m expecting it to be pretty wild.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where will the key battles take place?<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

Our midfield is our biggest strength, so it will be interesting to see if Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali can do as well as they did in December in this same fixture.<\/p>\n

But even then, Liverpool still scored three. <\/p>\n

Your new full-backs seem to like a foray forward and we are good on the break, so Elanga\u2019s pace against potentially exposed defenders could be key.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, what\u2019s your prediction?<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t see us scoring many goals unless a striker is parachuted in.<\/p>\n

By contrast, you have goals all over your team \u2013 do you even really need Isak? \u2013 so I will say Newcastle<\/a> 1-3 Liverpool.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newcastle fans are predicting a \u201craucous\u201d St James\u2019 Park atmosphere, with Alexander Isak\u2019s future dominating the lead-up to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,134,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-84506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}