Arne Slot makes 'very honest' admission about Alexander Isak as he rates first PL start for Liverpool
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Alexander Isak had a full Premier League debut to forget for Liverpool on Saturday as the Reds lost against Crystal Palace.
The focus had been on Isak pre-match, with all eyes on who Arne Slot would play up front after Hugo Ekitike’s needless midweek red card.
Ultimately, Slot decided he needed to go with his main man at Selhurst Park, handing Isak his first ever Premier League start for Liverpool.
Unfortunately, the Swede ended it on the losing side, after Eddie Nketiah swept a 97th minute winner beyond Alisson Becker.
It was no less than Palace deserved having threatened to run away with the game in the first half.
Frustratingly, Liverpool could not really get Isak in the game and his wait for a first league goal for the Reds goes on.
9.
Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images
Ever since Ekitike was sent off against Southampton on Tuesday, it has felt like the Frenchman was going to cost Liverpool.
Obviously, it is hard to determine whether the Reds would have fared better with Ekitike on the pitch at some point, but he would at least have given Palace something else to worry about.
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As it was, they successfully kept Isak at arm’s length, limiting him to no shots on target and only three touches in the opposition box.
Nevertheless, despite a quiet display on a hugely disappointing afternoon, Slot claimed Isak’s performance was ‘quite good’ in his post-match press conference.
“He was close to a goal,” said the Liverpool head coach.
“In the end he didn’t score, but quite a good performance from him.”
Prior to the game, Slot had made it clear that Isak would not be playing 90 minutes on Saturday.
Nevertheless, the Sweden international came mightily close to doing so, eventually lasting 84 minutes before being taken off.
Crystal Palace fans taunted Isak with some chants as he was removed, and speaking post-game, Slot explained why he had kept the striker on for so long.
“That had a lot to do with the low intensity of the game,” he said.
“If you face a low block, ten players in and around their own 18 yard box, when they have to build up the goalkeeper takes a little bit of time before he kicks it long, then there’s hardly any intensity in the game.
“In a more open game where both teams want to press high and want to do build up you have to run a lot as a nine to press the other team, then you might not play him for 84 [minutes].
But in a game like this which was low tempo with some bursts of counter-attacks from them, then your number nine is not so involved.”