Alexander Isak stuck in Liverpool time warp and Graham Potter decision may speak volumes

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Alexander Isak might be forgiven for feeling his Liverpool career following his £125m British transfer record move is stuck on Groundhog Day so far, Paul Gorst writesIt's fair to say new Sweden boss Graham Potter did not want to get into the weeds of Alexander Isak's fitness issues when prompted on Wednesday. He’s feeling well, has no issues."It was far from a booming statement with regards to his star player but right now, Isak could do without the noise and the bluster.

Nearly two-and-a-half months into his time on Merseyside and the former Newcastle United star finds himself at the same juncture he arrived at at the start of September.READ MORE: What Arne Slot ditched in Liverpool training spoke volumes as problem now clearREAD MORE: Mohamed Salah agreement reached after Arne Slot urged to drop Liverpool forwardIsak has played just 253 Premier League minutes of the 720 played by Liverpool since he signed at the start of September, excluding stoppage time, and his last run-out for his new club came in a 45-minute cameo against Eintracht Frankfurt on October 22, when he picked up a groin injury.As a result, the 26-year-old has largely watched on in recent weeks, helpless to stop a run that now stands at seven defeats in the last 10 games in all competitions, dating back to late September when the Premier League champions were beaten at Crystal Palace.Had Liverpool been in Sunday's game with Manchester City, there was the option for Arne Slot to call upon the most expensive player in British football history off the bench.After returning to training last week, Isak was in the match-day squad at the Etihad but as the contest slipped away from the Reds and City ran riot, it felt like a risk that wasn't worth taking, particularly after the outstanding Jeremy Doku had fired home the third on the day just after the hour mark.Slot declared after the October international break that Isak was now ready to be held to a higher standard after being allowed a grace period to get up to speed following a pre-season programme that was decimated by how his acrimonious move to Liverpool played out across July and August.However, since the Reds returned to action in mid-October, the forward has made just one Premier League appearance, which was the 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Anfield nearly a month ago. Try as he might, the attempts to build up some steam and momentum have so far fallen flat.Slot, in fact, was forced to row back on that assessment when speaking before the defeat to Man City, saying: "I know that I said three weeks ago that his pre-season has ended so now it's time for us to see where he is.

But I have to come back to those words."Because if you are three weeks only with the rehab, that doesn't bring you back to the levels he was three weeks ago. So, again I have to say, give him some time."It's why once more Isak arrives on the international scene at Sweden with Liverpool crossing their fingers and hoping their club-record signing is handled with care.The Reds were in regular contact with the backroom team of former boss Jon Dahl Tomasson during the September and October breaks, most notably with Ben Rosen, their performance manager.Rosen remains in situ as part of Potter's backroom staff so it's unlikely the lines of communication have now closed where Isak and Liverpool are concerned.But at a time when Sweden are in need of positive results, with their World Cup qualification in the balance, the temptation to use their main man over the next week or so must be great for a new manager looking to start on the right foot.Potter's plans will become clearer later in the week when he previews Saturday's game in Geneva but the Reds will be keen to ensure he is delicately handled.If Isak features in both games against Switzerland and Slovenia, he will have made more World Cup qualifier appearances than Premier League by the time he returns to Merseyside at the back end of next week for the visit of Nottingham Forest.It's a small snapshot into how things have been in the early going, even if Slot will rightly counter he has been signed for six years and not six weeks.Isak's Liverpool career might feel like Groundhog Day in its early weeks: in need of minutes, away on international duty and the attention over the state of his fitness growing.