Alexander Isak

[Doc_Piptorious]

Why is it not possible to take a player out of the natchday squad and do a mid-season pre-season?

We have done that with him, twice, and he has gotten injured at about the five week mark each time which would knock him back a bit each time. So he has never actually gotten up to full fitness.


Think the best we can hope for from him is that he can go on enough of an injury free form (and that there is not something underlying going on physically) that we see him regaining match sharpness to go with being fully fit from about late january to early Feb onwards.

[Exiled_red]

Just watched the highlights again and after he was brought on, there were a couple of times we broke quickly where you would have thought would have been ideal opportunities for him. When Chiesa played in Mo and again at the end when Mo messed up the final ball. Isak was nowhere to be seen on both occasions - at least Darwin used to make the effort to get into positions where he could miss.

Yeah I was wondering about that too, you would expect your forwards to be up there with the attack, I know they were quick breaks from Brighton set pieces IIRC so I wondered if as he was a big guy he was somewhere at the back of the pack to defend that but VVD is leading the charge in one of those breaks. Maybe someone blocks his path I don't know I could really see from the footage.

[Norbs]

And he was bloody good at it too, missing that is.

World class

[danperkins]

We know he's class but yeah he's been a bit Isakof****. Hopefully like Wirtz, they can get going as it's getting painful to watch.

[Norbs]

He might be Isak of **** but Florian's Wirtz and Frimpongs

[frank the tank]

Realistically, who would sign him off us if we were looking to sell?? I don't think we'd even get half of what we paid??? I can see him going the way of Joao Felix......signed for a collosal fee but never justified it. The flowchart in Michael Edwards/ Richard Hughes office needs a serious tweak after this

[baitman]

He might be Isak of **** but Florian's Wirtz and Frimpongs

Up all night working on that one

[Exiled_red]

It's still too early to judge, he clearly hasn't been fit and is still getting his way back, we can be frustrated by that, but it is what it is. Whether we are setup to get the best out of him or shat exactly the role we have/had in mind is unclear to me. But I thought his goal against West Ham was the fi ish of a top quality striker, so there have been glimpses, but for me (and I have been saying this for a while) the shirt should be Ekitike's at the moment, and Isak has a lot of work to do to displace him.

[Mark79]

Why is it not possible to take a player out of the natchday squad and do a mid-season pre-season?

Don’t know, but for whatever reason that’s not what we did.

[BobTheCharmer]

Most of his goals are tap ins. We don't create those chances. Who the **** did the scouting? This was my fear when we were first linked to him. He needs others to create the 1 and 2 yard tap ins. Just not going to happen.

[baitman]

Most of his goals are tap ins. We don't create those chances. Who the **** did the scouting? This was my fear when we were first linked to him. He needs others to create the 1 and 2 yard tap ins. Just not going to happen.

I watched quite a few Newcastle games and always kept an eye on Isak and Gordon as we were linked to them both.
Isak may be seen as a tap in merchant but that is far from the truth.
He'd often be seen doing some work on the edge of their box or midfield, intercepting a pass, starting a breakout run and drawing defenders. He would then pass the ball to Gordon or others, who took advantage of the space created, and then arriving in the box for the tap in. He also scored plenty from the edge of the box.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I watched quite a few Newcastle games and always kept an eye on Isak and Gordon as we were linked to them both.
Isak may be seen as a tap in merchant but that is far from the truth.
He'd often be seen doing some work on the edge of their box or midfield, intercepting a pass, starting a breakout run and drawing defenders. He would then pass the ball to Gordon or others, who took advantage of the space created, and then arriving in the box for the tap in. He also scored plenty from the edge of the box.

That is a great point. Isak did that a hell of a lot at Newcastle. He would drop deep to get the ball and he would be the guy that then play the last or second last pass before the ball was sent into the box for him to score from.

He was very mobile and proactive as part of Newcastle's attack.


As you said, long range shots were something else he did a bit as well as being good in the air.

[Paul12]

... long range shots were something else he did a bit as well ....

As we well know

[Doc_Piptorious]

As we well know

True, we were on the receiving end from those a few times I think.

[SB]

Most of his goals are tap ins. We don't create those chances. Who the **** did the scouting? This was my fear when we were first linked to him. He needs others to create the 1 and 2 yard tap ins. Just not going to happen.

I think players like Frimpong & Rio could provide the ammunition he needs