Alexander Isak told 'simple fix' to Liverpool form - 'It's not complicated'

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After Alexander Isak played around a third of Sweden's defeat against Switzerland a few days ago, the Liverpool striker is expected to feature for longer on Tuesday as his nation takes on Slovenia.

Isak has been absent for Liverpool since he was withdrawn at half-time against Galatasaray in the Champions League around a month ago. He returned to the bench for the trip to Manchester City but wasn't called upon.

Fit again, though, and with a huge run of games coming up where Liverpool should be eyeing a string of victories, Isak will need to prove not only that his injury is behind him, but that he is improving his understanding of how Arne Slot wants him to play.

"When you go to a big club, there is a level of adaptation that is required," Dwight Yorke told Snabbare this week. "If I reflect on my own time as a player, even though I was always a team player, at Aston Villa, I had to do a lot more as an individual.

"When I went to Manchester United, I didn’t have to do so much of that individual stuff because I was slotting into a system and a team that played a certain way. You have to recognize that very quickly.

"You don’t change your style of play. You just adapt yourself to the system. There’s a reason why they spend that type of money on you because, obviously, you are a very good player, but it’s about recognizing other people’s strengths.

"Alexander Isak doesn’t need to do everything that he did at Newcastle. He’s got to fit in and recognise the quality around him at Liverpool.

Hugo Ekitike has been Liverpool's main man this season

Hugo Ekitike has been Liverpool's main man this season

"He just has to play as the nine. Be up there, hold the ball up, and get yourself into good goalscoring positions because, at the end of the day, you’ve got to get the goals."

Isak has scored only once for Liverpool so far in all competitions (against Southampton in the League Cup). Unlike the likes of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, he knows the Premier League already, which should help him once he regains full match sharpness.

"When I played for Villa, I used to come deep and link the play," Yorke continued. "Isak for Newcastle would come deep, dribble out into the wide areas and go past one or two defenders.

"He doesn’t need to do all that for Liverpool. They’ve got flying wingers to take care of it for him, like Mohamed Salah, and a midfield with real quality behind him.

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"That’s the problem for Isak. Don’t come deep. When you start to do all of that stuff and you feel like you’re that player, you end up losing time that you didn’t need to spend on those parts of your game.

"He has to recognize that he doesn’t need to so much as an individual. Just be in your position. Put in the legwork. Do the simple things well.

"That means holding up the ball, linking up the play up front and making sure his teammates can find him in the box. It's a simple fix. It's not complicated."

Liverpool.com says: Ekitike deserves his place in the team at the moment but Isak needs minutes to improve. It's going to be fascinating to see how Arne Slot balances his selections during a crucial period.

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