14 hours ago
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Emile Heskey has said it will take time for Alexander Isak to get up to speed at Liverpool, but insisted that if the striker continues to put in the hard yards, he will succeed at Anfield.
The Swede has struggled since his record-breaking arrival from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day and has managed just one goal in 13 Premier League and Champions League appearances. Injuries and a lack of fitness and rhythm have impacted Isak’s start to life at Anfield, with his performances drawing widespread criticism.
He is yet to play a full 90 minutes for Liverpool but has featured in the last six games, starting four. Heskey, who also joined Liverpool from further down the Premier League pyramid as a player, thinks Isak is still adapting to his new surroundings and learning to gel with his teammates.
“He's getting his fitness back. It's going to take a bit of what a bit of time to understand the formation and where he wants to play, getting used to the players that he's playing with,” the ex-England international exclusively told Liverpool.com, in association with William Hill.
“Liverpool are not a team that really swing balls in anymore for forwards to attack. So he's got to understand where he's going to get his chances from, what sort of runs he's going to make. He's learning that now.
“His work rate has got to stay very high because that'll get you through a lot of games.
“Liverpool fans are fantastic,” he added. “As long as you're working hard, they'll get behind you and back you. So he needs to continue to do that.”
Heskey hails from an era when the majority of Premier League sides operated with two up front, when the now 47-year-old was often the muscular target man twined with a more agile partner.
Unsurprisingly, he was delighted to see Liverpool revert to a 4-4-2 shape in midweek against Inter Milan, with Isak and Hugo Ekitike starting together up front.
“I called for it a few weeks ago, actually,” said Heskey, who scored 110 goals during his Premier League career.
“You’ve gone out and bought two exciting forwards; one's gone out and hit the ground running. The one we know what he's capable of doing.
“Play them both up front, play them both together, but you can't play them both together in the [4-2-3-1] formation that you play. So they've gone with a 4-4-2 diamond, which suits them a lot.
“I was happy with that. They’re still a little bit nervous at times with their backs against the wall defensively. But, they'll get through it.”
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