Alexander Isak ends 13-month wait as Andoni Iraola handed Liverpool encouragement

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A closer look at Alexander Isak's situation after the Sweden and Liverpool striker starred in a 5-1 win over Tunisia at the World CupThe Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match won't have been the first piece of silverware Alexander Isak will have eyed up when he joined Liverpool last year. But the award for his performance in Sweden's thumping 5-1 win over Tunisia at the World Cup is at least proof of progress for the £125m striker.Had Isak not been replaced by Daniel Svenson in stoppage time, the victory, in fact, would have marked the first time Isak had completed a game since he moved to Anfield on September 1.You have to trawl back to May 2025 for the last time Isak played out a full match, when he was left on the entirety of Newcastle's 1-0 defeat to Everton on the final day of the 2024/25 term.This late withdrawal, however, does at least mean Isak made it past the 90-minute mark for the first time 13 months, which in itself is indicative of how things have gone over the last year for the former Newcastle man.So it's encouraging enough, from a Liverpool perspective, that the most expensive footballer in British history was able to come through virtually the entire match unscathed.But it was his all-round performance in what was his World Cup debut that will have really whet the appetite back on Merseyside, where Andoni Iraola might have watched on intently as Isak put the Tunisians to the sword in Mexico's Estadio Monterrey.The goal was trademark Isak, the sort that was nonexistent during a troubled first term as Anfield's No.9.

Peeling off to the left after a ball into the channel, he drove at his opposite number before cutting inside and finding the far corner.It was a strike that showcased Isak's pace and power when given the space, as he built on an even more eye-catching strike in the warm-up to the World Cup, when he registered a stunning effort against Norway in a 3-1 defeat earlier this month.Not content with that, however, Isak then supplied team-mate Viktor Gyokores after muscling a Tunisian defender off the ball high up the pitch, before his crucial touch on a ball into the box ensured that goalscorer Mattias Svanberg was back onside to score with his first touch.As far as World Cup debuts go, it was a fine night's work for Isak, who was able to cast off the negativity that plagued his first year as a Liverpool player while in the yellow and blue of his homeland.For reasons that have been well documented, Isak was never able to reach the sort of standard he displayed in Mexico at the World Cup as a Liverpool player.The abridged version is that he arrived unfit and late after an acrimonious departure from Newcastle - with the pressure of being the most expensive player of all time in England, no less - and then found it impossible to get back to 100%.A leg break in December halted progress, kept him sidelined for four months and when he finally returned, in April, it was to a team in disarray. Isak may also have had one eye on the World Cup by that point too."It’s Liverpool’s own fault how much they paid for Alexander Isak so I don't care too much about that," says Sweden legend Tomas Brolin.

The former striker finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or awards largely on the back of his performances at the 1994 World Cup, which were also held in the United States.His three goals in seven games helped the Swedes to a semi-final place and he believes Isak simply has to keep fit to star in Iraola's tactical framework at Liverpool next season.Speaking to Hajper, Brolin adds: "I actually don't know [what impact Andoni Iraola can make on Isak]."But if you are a good enough football player then, like Isak is, then you adapt to whatever playing system you have. Injuries are never fun for a football player but as long as he gets to stay injury-free, he has already shown before what a fantastic football player he is and what a goalscorer he has been for many years now."It's just a matter of crossing our fingers now that he gets to be injury-free, then he will show his former self again shortly."Conventional wisdom at club levels dictates Liverpool will simply be holding their breath and keeping fingers crossed in the hope that Isak - and the rest of their international contingent - stay free of injury while Stateside this summer.But given the lack of meaningful minutes for their club-record signing last season, Liverpool actively need their No.9 to get back into the rhythm that saw him score 44 goals across his last two full terms with the Magpies.With Mohamed Salah now out of the picture, top scorer for eight of his nine Liverpool seasons, the Reds need a new hero to step forward and no-one has more demands on him to be that player than Isak.Such is the emphasis on getting Isak back to his true level at Liverpool, in fact, that the club's pursuit of a Salah successor centres around finding the sort of profiles that can supply Isak much more frequently than last season.A souped-up player of the match gong won't be the biggest award on Isak's wishlist but it at least represents a start for both him and Liverpool.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!