Alexander Isak Faces Pressure at Liverpool After Newcastle Return

Alexander Isak has reached the stage every big-money striker dreads. The sympathy starts to fade, the questions harden, and every touch feels like a verdict. That is life when you cost £125m and play centre-forward for Liverpool. Output comes first. Everything else trails behind.

Michael Owen did not bother sugar-coating it on talkSPORT after Liverpool’s trip to St James’ Park.

"I know how hard it is to get back and you do need time. He has been given plenty of time – he finished the season in the team, then went to the World Cup and has had a pre-season.

"Now he is starting to run out of excuses. We need to see the real Isak. We saw how good he can be at Newcastle, but we haven't seen it in a red shirt yet. Questions will come now. At the start of the season, there are expectations, and Liverpool need him. [Mo] Salah has gone, [Hugo] Ekitike is out, and he needs to deliver. Against Newcastle, he was a yard off it, and that is worrying. He is the big-money signing, and I can't say he played well because he didn't."

It was blunt. It was also hard to argue with.

Isak’s first season at Anfield came with a built-in caveat. A broken leg that wiped out four months of football changed everything – timing, rhythm, confidence. That sort of injury buys a striker understanding and time. But there is always a point where the context stops acting as a shield and starts sounding like an excuse. Liverpool are right on that line now.

Return to St James’ Park exposes old problem

His first game back at St James’ Park since leaving Newcastle was always going to be emotionally loaded. The boos were inevitable, the hostility guaranteed, the narrative easy to write. None of that will matter inside the Liverpool analysis room.

Isak played the full 90 minutes. He never really gripped the game.

Yes, the service into him was often poor. Liverpool’s supply line misfired, and a striker cannot put away chances that never arrive. That is fair. It is also only part of the story.

The very best No 9s do not just wait for the ball. They bully centre-backs, stretch defences, create space for others and punish even the one half-chance that drops. Isak did not reach that level. He forced a couple of efforts on target and held his own physically in duels, but the overall impression was of a forward playing within himself.

His passing was loose. His movement lacked its usual snap. The sense of threat Liverpool need from their focal point simply was not there often enough.

Liverpool need goals, not explanations

The wider context makes this more than a one-game talking point. Liverpool are light on guaranteed goals. Hugo Ekitike is out until the end of 2026. Mohamed Salah has gone. Between them, that is a huge chunk of end product, gravity and certainty ripped from the front line.

Andoni Iraola’s system will demand pace, aggression and direct running from his forwards. It can create structure and chaos in the right areas. It cannot finish chances. That job still belongs to the striker.

Isak’s numbers at Newcastle – 62 goals in 109 games – show exactly why Liverpool paid so heavily to get him. The talent is not in question. He has already proved he can be a ruthless finisher in the Premier League.

The issue is timing. When does that version of Isak turn up in a Liverpool shirt every week?

At 26, he is not a kid learning the level. He is in his prime, fully established, and signed not as a project but as a solution. Liverpool did not spend £125m for a two-year adaptation curve. The price tag inevitably colours the debate because it reflects the responsibility he carries. Big fee, big burden.

Nottingham Forest becomes an early-season marker

That is why Nottingham Forest at Anfield suddenly feels bigger than it should this early in the campaign. When a marquee signing underperforms in a marquee fixture, the noise ramps up quickly. One flat display at his old ground has turned the next home game into a test of character as much as quality.

For Isak, the route out of this is brutally simple. Move sharper. Link play quicker. Attack the penalty area with more conviction. Take the one chance when it comes. Strikers live in that thin space between criticism and acclaim, and a single finish can flip the mood overnight.

Until that moment arrives, the questions Owen raised will only grow louder.

From a Liverpool perspective, this feels like a delicate balance between realism and overreaction. Isak was poor at Newcastle. That cannot be spun away. He did not stretch their defence enough and never looked like the player who terrorised back lines in black and white.

But the hysteria that often follows a big away defeat or a flat attacking display does not help either. Liverpool did not feed him a stream of clear openings. When the team’s attacking rhythm stutters, the centre-forward is always first in the firing line.

Supporters will tolerate a lack of goals for a spell if they see the work: relentless pressing, sharp movement, visible belief. That currency is still available to him.

The problem is time. With Ekitike sidelined and Salah gone, Liverpool cannot afford a gentle, six-month easing-in period for their main striker. Iraola needs his No 9 to become the reference point of the attack now – the first line of the press and the last touch of the move.

One goal against Nottingham Forest would not fix everything. It would, however, change the conversation instantly and buy him something far more valuable than sympathy: trust.

Concern around Isak is justified. Panic is not. The talent is there, the track record is there, and Liverpool’s season may yet hinge on how quickly those two things show up in red.